Rearrangement: More Than it Seems
by KuroGalaxy14
Summary: When things become blurred and flipped around, how is it possible to flip them back to normal? When what worked previously now fails, what can even be tried? Can anything be won when the tables are turned and evil prevails? Set one year after Shogun Steel. GinMado. Rated T for eventual blood and character deaths.
1. So it Begins

**Woohoo! New story! I have been so excited to post this one since I came up with the idea, and the more developed the plotline became, the more excited I got! I am going to do something new with this story. At the beginning of each chapter, I am going to total the numbers of foreshadowing hints in the chapter and the ones previous. However, there are also slight foreshadowing hints in the story title and in the cover art. So, between the title, cover art, and this chapter, there are a total of seven pieces of foreshadowing, simply because I like to hide plot hints all over the place. Also, the "More Than it Seems" part of the title comes from a song of the same name by Kutless. (Hint hint!) Anyway, enjoy!**

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When things become blurred and flipped around, how is it possible to flip them back to normal? When what worked previously now fails, what can even be tried? Can anything be won when the tables are turned and evil prevails?

It was supposed to be a normal day. Gingka had woken that morning expecting to do what he usually did, what he had done for nearly a year now since being rescued from the DNA's clutches by Zero and the other bladers of the new generation. However, so far, today had turned out to be anything but normal.

For starters, Madoka had actually forgotten to cook breakfast, much to Gingka's confusion. No matter how late she stayed up, Madoka always managed to get into the kitchen at a time that would allow her to have breakfast ready for the numerous bladers staying in the B-Pit when they woke up. So, when Gingka casually meandered into the kitchen and found it empty of all food or people, he knew that something was up.

For a few moments, Gingka looked around the kitchen in confusion, wondering if he had merely slept later than he usually did. A quick glance at the clock informed him that he had indeed awoken at his usual time. So, where was everyone?

"Madoka? Zero? Anyone?" Gingka called, walking downstairs.

"We're down here, Gingka!" Madoka's voice called from the basement. Gingka quickly jogged down the stairs.

"You have to see this, Gingka." Benkei said.

"See what?" Gingka asked, surprised at seeing the Bull blader at this time of the morning, and seated at Madoka's computer, nonetheless.

"It's Spiral Force. Again." Benkei said, rotating the screen so that Gingka could see it.

Gingka felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of the familiar flying city.

"What?! How?" He demanded, stepping closer and peering into the screen for a better look.

"I take it this is more serious than we know?" Zero asked, sounding slightly concerned at the scowl on Gingka's face.

"What this started last time… It might be. I doubt 'that' will happen again. I doubt that weird prophecy will come true a second time, but Spiral Force itself is a threat even without the whole 'light shining in the sky and a new star coming to earth bringing a new rise of darkness' thing." Gingka said in a tone more serious than most of them had ever heard.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go take it down!" Ren exclaimed

Gingka chuckled at the blonde's enthusiasm. "It's not quite that simple, Ren. For one thing, I'm sure Ziggurat, assuming this is him, or someone associated with him, wants revenge on me as much as Doji did. For another, the only way to 'take it down' is to quite literally do just that. However he's managed to power it this time, we have to stop it. But I don't think this is a job you guys can handle."

"But we rescued you from the DNA without any help!" Zero exclaimed.

"Gingka, you're forgetting something else other than what Zero just said." Benkei said.

"And that is?" Gingka challenged.

"Your dad said nearly those exact same words to us the first time. Did it stop us?"

"... No." Gingka admitted.

"And we were the same age if not younger than these guys. I'm sure they can do it." Benkei said.

"Yeah! We can handle it!" Eight piped up.

Gingka sighed. "Fine, but I am coming with you and you will have to do everything I say as I say it. I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Yes sir!" The group cheered, saluting.

Gingka and Benkei chuckled at their enthusiasm.

"Well then, let's go!" Benkei exclaimed.

"You're coming too, Manager?" Ren said, looking surprised.

"Bull! Of course I'm coming!" Benkei laughed.

Zero and the others tilted their heads confusedly and sweatdropped slightly.

"'Bull'?"

Gingka laughed. "There's the old Benkei for you. Well, let's get going, as Benkei said." With that, the redhead darted out, leading the charge up the stairs and out of the B-Pit.

"Gahh, Gingka, wait up!" Madoka yelped, suddenly deciding to come too.

"Madoka? You sure you want to come?" Gingka said, pausing in the doorway.

"If you're gonna insist on going, then so am I." Madoka said. "Someone's gotta watch your back."

"We can do that, Madoka." Benkei said.

"I meant someone who won't be an idiot." Madoka chuckled. "Come on, Gingka. For old times' sake."

Gingka chuckled. "I never said you couldn't. If you're sure then."

"Come on Maru." Madoka said, grabbing her old belt and laptop and snapping it around her waist before joining Gingka and the others at the front of her shop. Maru stepped up, her own laptop ready to go.

"Lead the way, Gingka." Zero said, an excited gleam in his eyes that immediately reminded the redhead of himself. The same gleam shone from Gingka's own eyes in a more serious way before he nodded and darted out the door with the others following him closely.

"Alright, you flying city, where are you?" Gingka said under his breath as he ran, looking around for the Spiral Force.

"There! Whoa, that's huge!" Zero yelped, skidding to a stop along with the others as they all spotted the menacing, hovering city.

Gingka felt a slight bit of fear rising at the all-too-familiar sight. He quickly forced it down. Now was no time to be afraid of anything. This was nothing compared to Nemesis, right? Yet somehow, Gingka couldn't quite shake this feeling that something was off. Something was going to happen, and whatever it was, Gingka felt that it was going to somehow make this the hardest battle any of them had ever fought. Considering how hard Nemesis had been, that was saying something.

"Gingka? Are you alright?" Madoka's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and Gingka suddenly noticed that the others were already running on ahead, except for Madoka, who had put a hand on Gingka's shoulder and was looking concernedly at him. Did he look worried?

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out for a bit." Gingka scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Let's get going."

Madoka chuckled. "You're still such an idiot, Gingka."

"Hey, I think I've improved at least a little bit." Gingka protested as he jogged along next to Madoka, the two trying to catch up to the others, who had already gained quite a large lead.

Madoka chuckled. "Perhaps." She reached up and ruffled his hair a bit, causing him to look at her in surprise. "But you're still a big idiot."

"Something tells me this is your way of… Flirting." Gingka grumbled, snatching her headband off her head and smirking as she glared at him.

"I'm not flirting." Madoka protested as Gingka used his height to his advantage to keep her headband away from her as she reached for it.

"Oi, lovebirds! Spiral Force is this way!" Benkei called from the entrance of a building.

Gingka and Madoka froze in their tracks, Madoka momentarily forgetting about her headband and Gingka momentarily forgetting about teasing her with it.

"... Did he just call us lovebirds?" Gingka muttered, blushing.

"Yep. Should we get him?" Madoka asked.

"Later. We have a Spiral Force to blow up." Gingka said, turning and running towards Benkei as Madoka snatched her headband back and fixed her hair before darting after him.

"How exactly are we going to get onto that thing?" Zero asked as they all ran up the stairs of a building.

"I called Tsubasa and he's sending a helicopter to pick us up and take us to the Spiral Force. We just have to get atop this building and climb in." Benkei said.

"Good thinking." Gingka said, panting slightly.

"Wait up! I can't go that fast!" Madoka called from several steps down.

Everyone paused except for Gingka, who smoothly turned, leapt down the gap between him and Madoka, and swept her right off her feet before turning and continuing up the stairs.

"Quit staring and keep running." He said, carrying Madoka up the stairs swiftly but carefully.

Benkei chuckled. "Definitely lovebirds." He said as he continued after Gingka.

Madoka stared confusedly, barely registering in her mind that Gingka really had just done what he had. She did, however, register that she should hold on, and therefore she wrapped her arms securely around his neck. She was not afraid that he would drop her, no. Putting her arms around his neck just seemed like the natural thing to do. So that was what she did.

Gingka panted and gently set Madoka down as soon as he reached the top of the building, Benkei and the others not too far behind them.

"... Why did you do that?" Madoka asked, her face a light pink color as she half-glared at Gingka, who grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head in a manner that Madoka could not keep herself from considering as simply adorable.

"... It was faster." Gingka said sheepishly, hanging his head slightly in embarrassment.

"Well it did get us up here in time." Benkei chuckled, slapping Gingka on the back and causing the redhead to nearly fall on his face.

"There's the helicopter." Maru pointed to the approaching machine.

"Right on time." Gingka said. "I assume. I suppose 'on time' would mean being here at the same time as we are, which it seems to be."

Zero chuckled at Gingka's unusual nervous rambling. He supposed it had something to do with embarrassment, and he was partially right. However, nobody but Gingka could feel the nagging in the back of the redhead's mind. Something felt as if it were going to go wrong. Gingka wondered why he was suddenly feeling this way. He had never felt this way with Nemesis, or even with the first time against Spiral Force. Never once had Gingka felt as if something were going to go wrong. But for some reason he couldn't shake the anxious feeling.

"Get in." Tsubasa called, throwing open the door of the helicopter with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"Hey Gingka! Madoka! Benkei! Long time no see!"

Tsubasa was nearly shoved out of the helicopter as a familiar figure shoved himself into view, waving happily at them. Zero and his friends paused, blinking in surprise and confusion.

"Dad!" Gingka exclaimed, a broad grin spreading across his face as he made a dash towards the helicopter and became the first one inside.

"... 'Dad'?" Zero and the others quickly followed.

"Mr. Hagane! I didn't know you were here!" Madoka exclaimed as she and the others joined Gingka, Tsubasa, and Ryo in the helicopter.

"Well, I was meeting with Tsubasa since I was in town and I figured that if anyone knew where Gingka was, it'd be him. Then he got the call from Benkei and I decided to tag along this time." Ryo said, flashing a cheesy grin at them before turning to Gingka.

"... Am I in trouble?" Gingka asked, sounding amused.

"Very much so." Ryo said before putting his son in a headlock and ruffling his hair. Gingka yelped in surprise and tried to free himself as Ryo laughed.

"Gee, nice to see you again too dad." Gingka grumbled as he straightened his headband, which had been knocked askew by Ryo's hand.

"C'mere, you." Ryo chuckled, wrapping his arms around Gingka in a tight hug and smiling as Gingka returned the gesture. "You've grown so much I almost couldn't believe it was you."

Gingka chuckled sheepishly. "Well, it… Has been five years."

The eyes of Zero and his friends nearly popped out of their skulls at this statement.

"And that's why you're still in trouble!" Ryo said, tickling Gingka and laughing as the redhead made futile efforts to escape.

"Daaad!" Gingka whined.

Zero and the others laughed at this, earning themselves a distressed and annoyed glare from Gingka. Ryo chuckled and soon settled for merely hugging his son.

"I missed you son."

Gingka smiled as he caught his breath, settling comfortably into his father's arms.

"Missed you too dad."

"Sorry to cut the family reunion short, but we have arrived." Tsubasa reported.

"Let's do this then. Everyone stick together. We'll probably get separated later, but if we can stick together, we'll be safer for the long run. Try not to let them split us up." Gingka said, although in the back of his mind he was fully intending to run off to take out the Spiral Core as soon as possible, without endangering the others. Gingka had to remind himself that they were strong and had indeed rescued him from the DNA's clutches, but this was different.

The group climbed out of their helicopter and looked around.

"Which way?" Zero asked.

"This way." Gingka said, beginning to run, but freezing as evil laughter filled the air.

"I knew you would come, Hagane! Prepare to meet your ultimate doom!"

"Ziggurat! So it is you!" Gingka shouted. "Why don't you shut off your giant toy and come out?"

"Oh but I can't do that. You see, I have bigger plans." Ziggurat said, laughing.

Gingka narrowed his eyes. He had momentarily forgotten about the uneasy feeling in the back of his mind but now it was back in full force. Something was going to happen. Gingka was not sure what, or when, but he could tell that something was going to happen.

Gingka was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice Ryo coming up behind him. He jumped as the older redhead put his hand on Gingka's shoulder, a concerned look in the golden-brown eyes that matched his own.

"Gingka, what's wrong?" Ryo asked softly.

"Nothing. Just a bit tense because of this." Gingka admitted half of what was wrong, not wanting to make anyone, much less his father, think that he was scared or unable to handle the problem. He had handled Nemesis, for crying out loud. Why should this be any different? He had defeated Spiral Force before, and he would defeat it again.

Ryo nodded. "Let's defeat it quickly then."

"Come on guys!" Gingka called, beginning to run off again. Unfortunately, he didn't see the trapdoor in the ground open up right beneath his feet, or the wall that had risen behind him, separating him from his friends and blocking their view of him for a short amount of time, but just long enough to accomplish what Ziggurat wanted.

The last thing Gingka knew was that he was falling into a deep, dark hole. The last thing his friends heard before he disappeared was a startled yell.

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 **And so it begins! Let the insanity ensue! Well, in the next chapter, that is. ;) This was all just setting up for the real insanity. Brace yourselves.**

 **One more thing while I have your attention with that cliffhanger! Everyone should all go to the crossovers section between MFB and the original series of Beyblade, and look for a story called "Your Dream Bey Battles" by Goku vs. Superman. Basically, if you really want to see a certain MFB character battle a character from the original series, or any battle like that, you can tell the author and it will most likely be written! The story needs more requests,s o go check it out!**

 **Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	2. A Headache

**Yay, new chapter! It is once again time to play 'spot the foreshadowing!' And we have this possibly-annoying bit where I did a bit of a timeskip. Or did I? -giggles mischievously- I'll stop messing with you now and let you go read the chapter.**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 17**

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When Gingka woke, he didn't know where he was. All he did know was that the last thing he remembered was falling, and that his head felt quite fuzzy. After a few moments, the redhead gained control of his senses, and realized two things: that it was warm, and that he was actually quite comfortable. He sat up and looked around, blinking in surprise and confusion.

"I'm… In the B-Pit?" He muttered to himself. Of all the places he had expected to see, his own room in the B-Pit was the last. Yet Gingka somehow couldn't shake the feeling that he had had before, that something wasn't quite right. He still felt anxious, something within him telling him that something was going to happen, and whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

"Oh good, you're awake. That's a relief." Madoka's voice came as the brunette poked her head into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… Okay, I guess." Gingka said slowly, although he honestly was not sure if that were true. He soon discovered that the reason for this was an odd feeling of pressure on his head. However, this was soon dismissed as being an aftereffect from having probably hit his head.

Madoka came in and sat down on the bed next to him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just got a bit of a headache. What happened?" Gingka asked.

"We're not sure." Madoka said. "You were there, then you were gone, so we pressed forwards into the Spiral Force to look for you and found you unconscious in a cell. We rescued you and brought you back here."

"Oh… Guess I have a tendency to fall down pits and end up trapped somewhere." Gingka said sheepishly.

Madoka chuckled. "Apparently. I'm just glad you weren't injured, like last time. If a headache's the only thing, then that's a relief."

"Sorta odd. You'd think I'd have broken something from how far that fall seemed to be. Then again, I have no clue how far it was. Think I blacked out pretty quickly." Gingka said, scratching his chin.

Madoka hugged him. "Well, you're safe now so whatever happened is nothing to worry about now."

Gingka smiled. "Yeah. I suppose you're right." He said, before narrowing his eyes and frowning slightly. "Then why am I still uneasy somehow?" He thought to himself before sighing slightly and pulling away from the hug with one of his usual cheesy grins. "Sorry if I freaked you guys out."

Madoka gave Gingka a light smack upside the head. "Of course you did you big idiot. Now come on, breakfast is ready downstairs and Zero's been worried like crazy over you."

"What, you haven't been?" Gingka teased, pouting.

Madoka rolled her eyes and got up. "Maybe a little bit. Now come on."

Gingka chuckled and got up, then followed her, forgetting for the time being about the headache, Spiral Force, and everything that had anything to do with it.

"He's awake guys." Madoka announced as she entered the kitchen with Gingka close behind her.

Zero and the others looked up from the table, a wide grin immediately spreading across Zero's face before he stood and practically tackled Gingka.

"You're okay!" The Ifrit blader exclaimed, hugging Gingka tightly.

Gingka yelped and nearly fell over, then chuckled and patted the younger blader's head. "Yeah. Somehow. By the way, what exactly happened to the Spiral Force?"

"Well, after we rescued you, your dad and Tsubasa agreed that we should retreat for the time being. I think the city itself was forced out over the ocean by the army." Madoka said, scratching her cheek.

Gingka frowned confusedly. "'Forced out'? That thing has the power to level an entire area. Why didn't Ziggurat just use that? You'd think that was his goal, if he really wanted revenge on me. Wiping out the city that's at the center of Beyblade would be quite the revenge, and he did come here for a reason. Somehow I doubt it was to kill me, but instead, like Doji wanted, to…" Gingka trailed off and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"To… Get revenge by destroying whatever you worked so hard to protect?" Zero finished.

"Namely, these guys. So he knew that he'd have to trap you first, but he underestimated how strong they've become." Madoka said.

Gingka nodded. "Add Tsubasa, Benkei, and my dad into the mix with these guys and you have a force that just may be stronger than me." He chuckled.

"Well it got you out." Madoka chuckled. "Now sit down. After being unconscious for a couple of days, you must be hungry."

"Actually… I'm not, somehow." Gingka said, blinking.

"... I never thought I would hear you say you weren't hungry. You feeling alright?" Madoka said, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"I'm fine." Gingka said, although he knew he was lying. He felt lightheaded and wasn't hungry at all, which was extremely strange for him. Perhaps it was just some aftereffect of falling down that hole.

"Well, maybe you should eat something anyway." Madoka encouraged, heading for the fridge.

"Maybe…" Gingka muttered under his breath, resting his elbows on the table and resting his chin in both hands, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

After several long moments of thinking, everything else seemed to disappear from around Gingka. He did not notice Zero and the others watching him worriedly, did not notice when Madoka slid a plate of scrambled eggs under his nose. He did not even notice when Madoka tapped his nose with her finger, her turquoise eyes shining in concern.

"You cannot win this time, Hagane."

Gingka nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice in his head that came out of nowhere, yelping and jerking backwards so quickly that the chair he was sitting in fell over backwards, dumping him on the floor.

"Gingka?! Are you okay?!" The startled voices of his friends snapped him back to the present, and he realized he was laying on his back with Madoka leaning over him in concern and the younger bladers rushing over.

"Did anyone else hear that…?" Gingka asked hesitantly as he sat up, putting a hand to his now-pounding head.

"Hear what?" Madoka looked even more worried as she put an arm around Gingka's shoulders, as if worried that he would fall backwards again.

Gingka looked away, furrowing his eyebrows. "Nothing… It's nothing." He muttered dizzily.

"... Maybe we should get you to a doctor." Madoka said, an undertone of worry in her voice.

Those words worked as if by magic. Gingka's eyes widened in an instant, and the next thing anyone knew, the redhead was gone, leaving behind only a shocked-looking Madoka and a slight breeze as the tail ends of his scarf whipped out of sight around the doorway.

"... What?" Zero said in confusion, blinking.

Madoka sweatdropped. "You'd think he'd be over that by now. Gingka! Get back here!" The brunette yelled, running out of the room after the redhead.

Zero and the others followed, wondering where Gingka had gone. This question was soon answered by the sound of a startled yelp and several thuds from the direction of the stairs down to the main floor.

"Oh that idiot." Madoka facepalmed and darted off in that direction, followed closely by Zero and the others.

Soon enough, they found Gingka, laying on his face in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you alright, ya big idiot?" Madoka asked, kneeling next to him.

"Ow…" Gingka groaned, rolling onto his back and once again pressing a hand to his head.

"Let's get you back to bed so you don't hurt yourself more." Madoka said worriedly, helping Gingka sit up.

"M'fine." Gingka protested.

"No, you're clearly not. That's the second time you've fallen and hit your head today and I can tell that you're dizzy." Madoka said sternly. "Now we are getting you back to bed and then I'm going to call a doctor to make sure that you're okay."

Gingka let out a half-hearted whine in protest as Madoka, with the help of Zero and Shinobu, pulled Gingka to his feet and half-carried him up the stairs.

"Now tell me what's wrong." Madoka said firmly as she pushed Gingka back onto his bed.

"Just a headache…" Gingka grumbled.

"Uh-huh. And?"

"That's all." Gingka muttered defiantly, not wanting her to worry more about him, yet at the same time just wanting to let it out. He had to admit that his headache had gone from a mere annoying pressure to a pulsing feeling as if he were being hit by a hammer repeatedly, and in more than one spot on his head.

Madoka looked skeptical as she sat down next to Gingka and wordlessly pulled him into a hug so that his forehead was resting against her shoulder.

"M'fine…" Gingka muttered, still defiant.

"Gingka, you don't have to always hide it and pretend that it doesn't hurt." Madoka said. "It's okay to ask us for help. We've all got your back, you know. You don't have to try to take it all on on your own. You have us."

Gingka allowed a smile to creep onto his lips at this, despite the pounding feeling in his head.

"So how bad is it?" Madoka asked gently.

Gingka took a deep breath and sighed. "Pretty bad but I'm okay."

Madoka rolled her eyes at this. She swore this was going to be the last time she let him get away with downplaying things.

"Okay, this'll be the last time I push you. Now rest." Madoka said. "I'll get you something for that headache."

"Nooo…" Gingka whined as Madoka firmly pushed him into a laying down position, the brunette chuckling as she tucked him in, patted his head gently, and left.

"No wonder she always says you're an idiot." Zero said, sweatdropping at the rather childish behavior of the older blader.

"... M'not…" Gingka protested.

Zero rolled his eyes and left. Gingka squeezed his eyes shut to see if it would help his aching head. For a moment, the headache subsided, only to come back in full force… Along with the voice from before.

"Oh, but you are an idiot, Hagane. You always have been. You are now."

Gingka snapped his eyes open and shot up, panting slightly.

"I have got to be going mad…" He grumbled after looking around and seeing nobody. "But I'd better not be…"

Gingka's thinking was interrupted by a frightened scream from elsewhere in the building. He shot up, headache momentarily forgotten, and bolted out of the room, nearly colliding with Zero in the hall. The two bladers exchanged a startled look before Zero nodded and Gingka darted ahead.

"Madoka?!" Gingka called as he darted down the stairs to where he knew Madoka kept her medicine. Much to his concern, there was no response from the brunette. Gingka and Zero raced down the stairs.

As Gingka rounded the corner and stepped off the last step, he froze for an instant, eyes widening in shock. Madoka was laying on the ground, and judging by the blood pooling from her head, she was injured, probably badly.

"Zero, call an ambulance, quickly!" Gingka exclaimed, quickly getting over his momentary shock and rushing to Madoka's side, gathering her gently into his arms and holding her close in a protective manner, trying to figure out just how bad the injury was. She had clearly been hit in the head by something, but what?

Gingka looked around for any sort of clue as to the culprit as Zero raced off to find a phone. Suddenly, his golden-brown eyes caught a movement hidden in the shadows, and his full focus darted to that area.

"Come out!" He growled. "I know you're there!"

"Oh, very perceptive Hagane." The same voice from before said, causing Gingka's eyes to widen slightly before narrowing in anger.

"What do you want with me?" Gingka growled.

"Oh, nothing much. I'll just be going now and leaving you to try to save your one and only love." The movement ceased. Gingka growled and stood with Madoka in his arms, ignoring the slow drip of blood down his arm and clothing.

"The ambulance is on its way." Zero reported, coming back down the stairs and sounding worried.

"I-is she okay..?" He asked slowly.

"Whoever did this… Will pay…" Gingka growled in anger, holding onto Madoka as if he'd never let her go, the only thing keeping him from snapping right then and there being the slow expansion of her ribcage pressing against one of his arms as he held her. She was still breathing. If she stopped, Gingka wasn't sure what he would do.

Zero, wanting to help, went for the first aid kit and brought it to Gingka.

"We should try to stop her head from bleeding…" He said softly, slightly unnerved at the look that was in Gingka's eyes.

Gingka nodded silently and, with the highest level of care he could muster, he laid Madoka back down on the ground, elevating her head slightly while Zero wrapped a bandage around it as best as he could, the Ifrit blader biting his lip slightly to keep himself from panicking. If Gingka could stay calm in a moment like this, then so could Zero.

Gingka barely registered what was going on, his eyes focused on Madoka's still face as he gently supported her neck in one hand, his other hand resting on her cheek and rubbing it gently with his thumb. The sound of the ambulance approaching wasn't enough to pull him away.

"Zero, go unlock the door and let them in." He muttered as the young blader finished tying the bandage around Madoka's head.

Zero nodded and raced off up the stairs for the second time, soon leading the paramedics down the stairs. Gingka refused to let go of Madoka as the paramedics examined her head and decided that they needed to take Madoka to the hospital. The only problem was getting her up the stairs- or so they thought. The moment this was mentioned, Gingka stood and simply carried her up the stairs before laying her down inside the ambulance.

"Hang in there, Madoka…" Gingka whispered, grunting and putting a hand to his head as his headache returned.

"You cannot save her, Hagane. She will die." The voice from before said, and Gingka glanced around in alarm.

"No. She won't." Gingka growled angrily as the ambulance sped away to the hospital.

* * *

 **Dun dun duuuuun... You are all very much welcome. Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	3. A Kidnapping

**Here we are with chapter 3! Enjoy the further suspense that I have placed here for you!**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 19.**

* * *

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Gingka's headache had come back in full force. The slight vibration from the ambulance had not helped, and neither had the extreme level of worry for Madoka, not to mention the noise of the paramedics as they coordinated taking care of the brunette.

Gingka was so focused on his headache that he barely registered when the ambulance stopped and the hospital staff unloaded Madoka and rushed her off somewhere into the hospital.

"Sir? I have to ask you to step out of the ambulance please. We have arrived."

Gingka snapped back to reality at the sound of one of the paramedics speaking to him and politely tapping his shoulder.

"Where is she?" He asked softly, biting the inside of his lip to keep himself sane.

"She has been taken to the appropriate ward, sir. I must ask you to wait in the waiting room until the doctors have finished treating her." The paramedic said.

"Will she be okay?" Gingka asked.

"I am not sure, sir, but she should be." The paramedic said. "She was hit quite hard, it would seem. I cannot say for sure until we know more about her injuries. Please be patient. We will tell you as soon as there is anything to know."

Gingka nodded and sat down in an empty chair with a heavy sigh. Part of him couldn't believe this was happening, another part of him simply did not want to believe it, and a third part of him was blaming him for having not protected her. There wasn't much, if anything, that he could have done, he knew that. However, as much as he would, and had, denied it to everyone for so long, he loved Madoka. The brunette with her sparkling turquoise eyes was as important to Gingka as Beyblade was, if not more so.

Gingka sighed heavily once more and leaned forwards in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He glanced quickly around the room, seeing nobody and really nothing other than him, the chair he was sitting in, and the doors that led to the rest of the hospital. The room seemed almost strangely empty and quiet, but Gingka was slightly glad that there was nobody else around.

Gingka closed his eyes as a silent tear slipped out. He could remember quite well the last time he had felt something like this. The last time water had run down his face uninvited. However, at that time, it had not been tears. It had been rain. Gingka allowed his mind to wander back to the happier times, ones he had been able to spend without a care in the world…

* * *

"Gingka, hurry up! It's about to start raining!" Madoka called, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering slightly.

"Coming!" Gingka said, finally pulling himself away from the Bey Park and waving to the younger bladers who he had been blading with nearly all day.

"Had fun?" Madoka asked, smiling at the redhead who was walking along beside her with weariness and yet the excitement of battle shining in his eyes.

"Duh. I got to meet a bunch of new bladers." Gingka flashed one of his enormous grins at the brunette, who fought back a slight blush at the sight.

"Well, that's good." Madoka chuckled. "I'm still surprised you didn't break for lunch at all."

"... I was too busy battling." Gingka said, laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of his head.

Madoka chuckled and shook her head, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself as Gingka continued to walk, talking rather excitedly about all of the battles he had had that day. Madoka wasn't entirely sure how the redhead wasn't shivering like she was at the moment. Perhaps he was too focused on speaking to notice the chill of the air around him.

Yet, after several minutes of nonstop chattering, Gingka paused and looked at Madoka.

"Are you cold?" He asked, suddenly seeming a bit concerned.

"A bit. Let's hurry back." Madoka said as she felt the first few drops of rain falling.

Gingka held out one hand and looked up. "We didn't bring an umbrella, did we?"

"Nope. So let's hurry. The B-pit is only about another fifteen minutes' walk." Madoka replied, trying not to seem too impatient as Gingka stood there gazing up at the sky.

Madoka turned and looked up too as the rain began to fall on them. She stepped under the nearest awning for shelter, tugging Gingka with her to keep him from getting soaked. The redhead snapped out of his daze, looking sheepish.

"You are an idiot." Madoka chuckled.

"I try." Gingka gave a mock bow.

Madoka rolled her eyes, trying to gain some further warmth from her jacket as the wind began to blow, the storm quickly setting in. She stared out at the rain, the cars passing by with their headlights turning on, nobody seeing the two standing as close to the wall of the building as they could to avoid getting soaked by the blowing rain.

Gingka watched the brunette, fixing his calm golden-brown gaze on her face and watching with a slight frown as her teeth chattered, the rain reaching them despite their efforts to stay dry.

"We're gonna have to get soaked before we can get to a dry spot." Gingka commented, pulling the collar of his jacket out from underneath his scarf.

"Yeah. I just hope we don't catch a cold from this. It's cold as well as wet." Madoka said, trying to keep her shivering out of her voice. She didn't really want Gingka to worry about her, although she doubted he noticed how cold it- and she- was.

"If we hurry before it gets worse we probably won't." Gingka said, silently slipping his jacket off of his shoulders and putting it snugly around Madoka's shoulders. The brunette looked up at him in surprise and he smiled at her in a more gentle and mature way than he ever had before.

"Let's get back." Gingka said, adjusting his scarf and grabbing Madoka's hand before darting off into the rain, ignoring the water streaming down his face and not noticing the surprised blush on Madoka's face as the brunette held his jacket close around her with her free hand.

Within minutes, they reached the B-pit safely. Madoka shivered slightly as she unlocked the door and opened it, going inside and sighing in relief at the warmth. She closed the door behind her before turning to Gingka, only to find him shaking water out of his hair and wringing it out of his headband before opening all of the carrying cases at his belts and dumping water out of them.

Gingka looked over in surprise as he felt the warmth of a dry towel being put around his shoulders.

"Go change, you big idiot." Madoka said, tucking the towel firmly around his shoulders. "Change and get warmed up, then throw your clothes into the dryer."

"Yes Ma'am." Gingka said teasingly as he headed up the stairs, already beginning to sneeze.

* * *

Gingka sighed heavily and leaned back as the memory finished replaying in his mind. He remembered the bad cold he had gotten after that, how often Madoka had berated him for not taking care of himself. But it had been worth it to keep Madoka from getting a cold herself. Gingka was rubbish at caring for sick people anyway.

Gingka decided to get his focus off of Madoka and onto something else. He examined the ceiling tiles, but they offered no comfort in their cold grey pristineness. The walls held no pictures, and the floor tiling was merely a solid white. Gingka sighed and reached for his bey. Soon, the glittering silver curves and edges of Pegasus gave him something solid to hold in his grasp, rather than grasping blindly at thoughts.

"Just you and me again, eh Pegasus?" Gingka muttered under his breath, turning the bey back and forth slightly so that its edges glittered in the lights from the ceiling.

"Madoka will be fine…" Gingka said softly, not sure whether he was talking to Pegasus or to himself. "She's strong.. As strong as I am, I suppose, although in different ways. She'll pull through… Right, Pegasus?"

The bey gleamed as if in response. Gingka allowed himself a faint smile before closing his eyes and focusing on the wild, fiery power that he could always feel inside the small, round metal object he held in his hand. A sudden realization caused him to snap his head upright, looking at the bey in surprise. However, before he had time to think on the matter further, the fire alarm in the building began blaring. Gingka leapt to his feet and looked for the exit. The only one he saw now lay through the doors where Madoka had been taken. Gingka, without hesitation, shoved past these and looked around. The rest of the hospital was apparently as empty as the room he had been in, or at least this section was. Considering that the front entrance to the hospital was just to his left, Gingka figured that this was normal. He could see people outside, so he went towards them as smoke began to fill the room.

Once Gingka was safely outside and had joined the large group of doctors, civilians, and patients, he turned back to look at the building. Smoke and flames could be seen at almost every window, indicating the extremely fast-spreading fire.

"Not everyone is out yet!" Someone cried out from the crowd, and Gingka half-turned in surprise before turning back to look at the burning building. He could not yet hear the sirens of the fire trucks that were undoubtedly on their way, but from what he could tell, the building would likely be half gone by the time they arrived.

In that moment, an idea pushed its way into Gingka's mind. Before he even fully realized what he was doing, he had launched Pegasus at the building and was ordering the bey to circle the building as fast as it could go. The crowd of onlookers stared in surprise as Pegasus's flames rose higher, the ones inside the building dwindling at the exact same rate.

"Pegasus, Storm Bringer!" Gingka called, subconsciously glad just to have something he could do other than worrying about Madoka's condition.

The crowd cheered as the fires were snuffed out, Gingka catching his bey out of the air in the next instant in dramatic fashion, an excited gleam in his eye before he strode off, not wanting to be surrounded by news reporters and people asking questions.

Somehow, Gingka found himself atop a nearby building, looking for Madoka. He soon spotted the brunette being loaded into a helicopter. As the helicopter took off, Gingka followed it.

Anyone who had looked up at that moment would have been left staring in shock as Gingka ran across the rooftops, leaping from building to building as he scrambled after the helicopter that was undoubtedly taking Madoka to another hospital. Yet something seemed off somehow.

Gingka skidded to a sudden halt as he noticed precisely what had been somehow bugging him. It was as if a warning alarm were blaring in his head. But now, he saw it, unmistakable.

A deep growl of anger left Gingka's throat as he stood atop the warehouse at the edge of the docks, wondering how he could have been so blind. He should have noticed, should have taken action earlier. Now it was too late, and the fight was that much harder because of it.

In less than a minute, Gingka had abandoned following the helicopter and was racing back towards the more familiar part of town, towards the B-Pit, the WBBA, Bull Burger, anywhere he knew he would find his friends and allies. A sense of the utmost urgency was on his mind as he narrowed his eyes, which were now blazing angrily.

* * *

Benkei jumped slightly as Gingka burst into the restaurant, out of breath.

"Oh, you're here now? I heard you put out a hospital fire. Glad to see you awake." Benkei said.

"B-Benkei… No time to chat…" Gingka gasped, trying to catch his breath.

Benkei raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern entering his voice.

"Madoka… Attacked… Taken… Come quickly." Gingka said before rushing off and leaving a confused and worried Benkei.

"... Just how hard did he hit his head?" Benkei wondered before removing his apron and leaving his restaurant in the care of his workers, rushing off after Gingka.

"Zero! Everyone! Emergency!" Gingka shouted as he entered the B-Pit and practically flew up the stairs, while Benkei stepped in the door and leaned against the wall, huffing and puffing.

"What happened?" Zero asked, nearly jumping out of his skin in alarm as Gingka burst into the kitchen and skidded to a halt.

"Calm down, Gingka." Benkei said as he finally made it up the stairs, putting a hand on the shoulder of the panting redhead.

Gingka shook his head, looking at Benkei with a rather panicked look, which was unusual for him.

"Benkei… Ziggurat has Madoka."

* * *

 **Three cliffhangers in a row. You are very welcome. I do not plan on letting up on this suspense anytime soon! So brace yourselves and hang on tight! Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	4. A Glass Prison

**Here we are with chapter four! It's a few hours later than I would have liked, but ah well. Enjoy!**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 30**

* * *

"Okay Gingka, just calm down. There's a solution to this." Benkei said.

"Calm down?! Madoka's unconscious with a bad injury in enemy hands and you want me to calm down?!" Gingka said, practically snarling.

"We'll get her back." Benkei said, putting a firm hand on Gingka's shoulder. "But rushing in angrily isn't gonna work. You learned that before."

Gingka growled and shoved Benkei's hand off his shoulder. "I know. I'm going to get my dad. I'll meet you guys at the WBBA."

Before anyone could say anything further to stop the redhead, he was gone.

Gingka darted down the streets and alleyways of Metal Bey City with all the speed he could muster. He dodged parked cars, trees, and traffic signs. Soon enough, the WBBA headquarters came into view, towering proudly above its surroundings. The sight of it spurred Gingka on faster, the redhead intent on getting there and getting out quickly. He got into the elevator before the receptionist could notice him, and pressed the button for the floor Tsubasa's office was on before leaning against the back wall, panting.

The doors seemed to close agonizingly slowly before the elevator crawled into motion. Gingka tapped his foot rapidly, his legs and lungs burning from the rush of getting there. His head was beginning to pound again, reminding him once more that he had hit his head, what had Madoka said, two days ago? He didn't even know. Neither did he care. Madoka's head was in worse shape than his was, so he could ignore the pressured feeling that was trying to inch its way back onto his forehead.

Gingka turned his head and looked out the glass sides of the elevator, wishing that it would move faster. He scowled at the sight of Spiral Core, hovering ominously over the ocean in the distance.

"Mark my words, Ziggurat… You will pay if you touch a hair." Gingka muttered before yelping and falling to the ground as the elevator jerked to an unexpected stop.

"Ow…" Gingka grumbled, sitting up and looking around before standing. He frowned, noticing that he was only halfway to where he wanted to be. Tsubasa's office was on the twentieth floor. So why was the elevator stopping at the thirteenth?

Gingka went to the door and peered through before his eyes widened.

"Oh no… No, no no!" He growled, spotting the floor of the fourteenth story at his own shoulder level.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Gingka muttered, glancing slightly above him to where the fourteenth floor was, then below him to where the thirteenth floor lay. Nobody was in sight. Gingka found himself trapped in a stopped elevator between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors.

"Come on…" The redhead growled, pulling out his phone. "This just had to happen now…" He grumbled, taking a deep breath to calm down before calling Tsubasa's office.

"Hello, WBBA Headquarters this is the Director's office, how may I help you?" Hikaru's voice came.

"Hikaru! Is Tsubasa there?" Gingka exclaimed, trying to calm down.

"Gingka? Tsubasa just went out to lunch with your dad, but I can take a message."

"This is a bit too urgent for that. I'll call his cell in a second." Gingka said, peering down the hallways on the fourteenth and thirteenth floors to see if anyone was coming.

"Is something wrong?" Hikaru asked, concern entering her voice.

"I'm in the elevator and it's stuck between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors." Gingka sighed. "And I need to get out quickly."

"Okay, hang on. I'll send a maintenance crew to get you out." Hikaru said. "Just hang tight."

"Not like I can do anything else…" Gingka grumbled under his breath, looking around.

"You'll be out within an hour, probably. Which floor is the elevator closer to?" Hikaru asked.

"Thirteenth." Gingka said with a sigh.

"Alright. The maintenance crew will be on their way soon. Watch out for monsters on the thirteenth floor." Hikaru joked before hanging up.

Gingka took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes. He pressed his back against the cold glass walls of what for the time being seemed like a prison. Taking more deep breaths to calm himself down and remind himself that he would be out of here soon, he again looked to his phone and called Tsubasa.

"You have reached the cellphone of Tsubasa Ootori. Obviously, I am unavailable right now, so please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible."

Gingka rolled his eyes slightly and looked faintly amused at Tsubasa's ever-polite voicemail recording.

"Hey Tsubasa, it's Gingka. I'll keep this short. Madoka's been kidnapped by Ziggurat and we need to get her out as soon as possible. She was injured and unconscious. Benkei and the others are meeting me at the WBBA, and we need your help to get us to Spiral Force. Please hurry." Gingka said quickly before hanging up and growling under his breath. Of all the times for Tsubasa to go out to lunch, it had to be now, and he had to be ignoring his phone.

Gingka sighed and turned, pressing his forehead against the glass. The longer time he spent trapped inside, the more it felt like a prison. Gingka shivered, suddenly feeling cold. He decided to turn his attention out to the surrounding city, which he could easily see from his vantage point. Somehow, the glittering buildings and bare streets only made him feel colder, as if he were all alone.

Gingka felt as if he were going to panic, only able to see glittering buildings that seemed to have lost their warmth, as if he were looking out over a dead city. The only thing he could not tear his attention away from was the bey-shaped city hovering in the distance, out over the ocean, barely visible on the horizon.

Gingka growled and decided to turn his back on the Spiral Force for now, as looking at it was only filling him with rage. He pressed his back against the glass wall of the elevator once more, resisting the tugging feeling that was enveloping his body and making him want to go to the Spiral Force. He knew that he had to rescue Madoka, but from his current position he was helpless.

Gingka stood there, an overwhelming feeling of being tied down enveloping him. He felt as if invisible claws were grabbing at him, grabbing at his shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and waist. Gingka jerked forwards in an attempt to get away from the feeling, whirling towards the Spiral Force and staring at it as if it were an alien from another planet.

The sound of footsteps snapped Gingka out of the panicked feeling, as he turned and sighed in relief, spotting the maintenance crew hurrying towards him.

"Are you alright in there sir?" One worker asked as they all began opening toolboxes and inserting crowbars between the doors to pry them open.

"I'm fine. Just get me out of here." Gingka said, sitting down on the ground so he could see them easier.

"We're working on it sir. We'll have these doors open soon." They promised, beginning to tug at the doors.

Gingka nodded and attempted to help from the inside. The entire group paused for a second and tensed as the elevator jerked slightly, dropping a couple of inches before stopping again.

"... Sir, don't move." The maintenance crew said hesitantly. "We're gonna need to call more help to make sure this stays put while we get you out. It may fall if we're not careful."

Gingka groaned mentally, but nodded outwardly, his body tense as he sat perfectly still, doing as he was told. Falling thirteen and a half stories was definitely not something he wanted to do, especially when he had a rescue to accomplish as soon as he got out of the elevator, which was feeling more and more like a prison with every passing second. One of the maintenance crewmen was soon on the phone with someone, calling for additional help. Some wind blew against the building, causing the elevator to shake slightly and drop a couple more inches. The maintenance crew tried to prop it up through the small gap they had managed to open.

Gingka breathed shakily. The prisonlike feeling was not helping with the new fear of falling and not being able to go rescue Madoka. He couldn't fall. Gingka knew that. If the elevator fell, he could be injured too badly to go do anything, and that was definitely not something that Gingka wanted.

It all happened at once. In slow motion, Gingka saw the gleam of something flying at him from the direction of Spiral Core. Before the maintenance crew could even notice, Gingka was standing and had launched Pegasus through the narrow opening they had created in the elevator doors. The silver and blue bey darted off down the hallway before returning at full speed and smashing through the doors of the elevator, shattering them and allowing Gingka a large hole to dive through to safety just as a second bey cut through the elevator's cables, causing it to plummet to the ground milliseconds after Gingka dove out.

Gingka laid on the carpeted hallway of the WBBA, panting slightly, his eyes constricted as he calmed down from the event that had just happened. After a few seconds, he sat up and looked around, his body trembling slightly with adrenaline. In an instant, the decision was made to run off and head to the stairs. Gingka had lost all trust in the elevators for the time being, and they would be too slow. Knowing that Tsubasa and his father were not in the WBBA, Gingka headed down the stairs, leaping back and forth over the railings rather than bothering with running down all thirteen flights.

Pegasus followed its master as he ran across the lobby and outside, looking around the empty streets for any sort of clue. Gingka could feel his power surging, imminent battle on his mind.

"Come out and face me head-on!" He exclaimed, narrowing his eyes. "Your little plan to take me out from the elevator failed, you coward!"

Slow clapping came from behind one of the buildings.

"I must compliment you on your quick escape, little Gingka. I thought I had underestimated you, and it would seem that I have. Your skills with a bey are quite advanced for having been advanced naturally."

Gingka narrowed his eyes. "Ziggurat." he snarled.

"Oh, are you mad at me?" Ziggurat asked calmly as he stepped into view out of the shadows of the building. "Really now, is that the way to greet someone you haven't seen in a long time?"

Gingka narrowed his eyes and growled, Pegasus circling him in almost a menacing although defensive manner. "I wouldn't exactly call you a friend, Ziggurat. Honestly, I'd hoped we'd seen the last of you nine years ago when we took down your little operation the first time."

"Well, sometimes your hopes get crushed by little pests." Ziggurat scoffed. "But you won't defeat me this time."

"Calling yourself the pest you are? It's about time." Gingka growled. "But you won't 'crush' me. You can't."

"Oh but I can. Have you already forgotten that I have your little friend?" Ziggurat taunted.

Gingka narrowed his eyes. "Of course not. But count on it, if you dare hurt her, I will personally see to it that you are taken down."

"Then let me make you a deal." Ziggurat said. "If you can get to your friend, I'll let her go. But you only have a certain amount of time."

Gingka scowled. "As if that's any sort of deal. I'll get to her and get her out of your slimy clutches either way."

"Oh, but can you save more than just her at once?" Ziggurat asked.

Gingka froze. "What are you talking about…?"

"You see, little Madoka is not the only one I have taken from where she should be if she were safe. I have several of your other little friends too, you see." Ziggurat boasted.

"You… You stink." Gingka growled. "Let them go now."

"Or what?" Ziggurat challenged. "All of the cards are on my side, you see. You're not exactly in a position to be making demands."

"Is that so?" Gingka asked, a smirk playing across his lips as he and Pegasus began to glow blue. "Have you forgotten that I took you down last time?"

"You had to have your little friends support you along the way though. What will you do when the only ones close enough to help are in my hands and can't help you?"

"Take you down without their help."

"Well now, isn't this surprising. Gingka Hagane, the one who is always going on about how one only gets stronger with the help of friends, saying that he can do something on his own without them?"

"You misunderstand what that means." Gingka narrowed his eyes. "I have something to fight for. I can fight for them. They don't have to be at my side physically for me to be stronger because of them."

"Is that so?" Ziggurat chuckled. "The way I see it, you don't stand a chance."

"We'll see about that." Gingka growled.

"Then let's see if your power alone can really save them!" Ziggurat exclaimed, raising his launcher and launching Spiral Capricorn at Gingka, who immediately blocked the attack with Pegasus and sent it flying back.

"Stop us, if you can." Ziggurat challenged, climbing back into a helicopter that was waiting for him. "Or rather, if you dare!"

"Mark my words, Ziggurat…" Gingka growled as he watched the helicopter fly off and out of his sight, away towards the Spiral Force. "You will pay if you touch a hair on any of their heads."

In an instant, Gingka had come to a decision. He couldn't wait around to see if Ziggurat really had captured his friends, as he had claimed to. He had to take action, and action meant getting aboard the Spiral Force if he had to swim to the stupid thing.

Gingka snatched Pegasus out of the air and turned on his heel, running back into the WBBA and running up all twenty flights of stairs, taking them two steps at a time. Once he reached the top, Gingka paused for an instant, blinked in surprise at the fact that he wasn't totally out of breath, and moved on towards the offices where he knew Hikaru must be.

"Hikaru!" Gingka called as he practically burst into Tsubasa's office, startling the bluenette, who nearly dropped her coffee.

"Goodness Gingka, calm down." Hikaru said, setting down the mug.

"I need a helicopter. Now. I have to get to the Spiral Force." Gingka said before Hikaru could make any further comment.

"Did Tsubasa say it was-" Hikaru began, but Gingka interrupted her.

"Tsubasa's been taken by Ziggurat, well, so Ziggurat claims. So have my dad and a bunch of the others. If Ziggurat's not lying, then he has them all. The whole group of younger bladers plus Tsubasa, my dad, and Madoka. I have to get there and get them out, and I have to do it now."

Hikaru nodded in understanding. "Why don't you have a seat and calm down. The helicopters will take at least a half hour to be ready."

"I don't know if we have that long…" Gingka muttered with a heavy sigh as he sat down on the couch.

"Well I can't get one ready any faster, probably. But we'll see." Hikaru sighed and went up to the roof to deliver the order.

Gingka, meanwhile, rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He closed his eyes, head beginning to pound again as the adrenaline faded away slightly. He knew that he should probably get it checked, or should at least rest, but if he rested now, then who knew what would happen? All of his friends who were close enough to do what he had to do were the ones who needed rescuing. The others were spread out across the world, and could not possibly get to his location in time to help, right?

"Gingka?" Hikaru's voice interrupted Gingka's thoughts. The redhead opened his eyes and looked up calmly, although anger was brewing behind the golden-brown pools.

"You got lucky. There was one helicopter that just got back and will be ready in five minutes after refueling. If you head up there now then by the time you can get into it, it'll be nearly ready to leave." Hikaru said, smiling reassuringly at him.

Gingka stood immediately and headed for the roof. "Thanks, Hikaru. Guess I owe you one."

"Go get 'em." Hikaru said with a friendly smile as Gingka jogged up the stairs and onto the roof, stepping into the waiting helicopter.

"I'm coming for you, Ziggurat." Gingka growled as he sat down on one of the seats, the pilot closing the door behind him.

"I'm coming for you."

* * *

 **Dun dun duuuuun! Does this count as a cliffhanger? If this counts as a cliffhanger then that makes four in a row for you guys to hate me for. Isn't this just the funnest thing ever?! And on top of that, I'm coming up on my first main plot twist and maybe my second one! -The two plot twists might happen simultaneously but I haven't decided yet- Anyway, until next time, Galaxy out!**


	5. The Scream of a Friend

**Muahahaha! I am back! I'm a day late but I'm back! And next weekend's chapter shouldn't be late because I have spring break this week and therefore have plenty of time to write! And to plot! Especially to plot! So have this thing! And stock up on tissues this week! And enjoy the suspense! If you dare! I'll stop using exclamation points now. Muahaha. You may now read the chapter.**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 50 (That's twenty pieces in this chapter alone! Have fun!)**

* * *

"Alright, Ziggurat, come out!" Gingka yelled as he stepped out of the helicopter and onto the Spiral Force. Around him, the air vibrated from the sound of the engines keeping the enormous city in the air. Gingka knew very well that his friends could be anywhere, but he also knew where they most likely were. His eyes turned and focused on the tower looming at the center of the city.

"I'm coming, everyone… Hang in there." Gingka darted towards the tower.

However, it didn't take long for obstacles to pop up, as Gingka found himself standing face to face with none other than Argo Garcia.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Hagane." Argo sneered.

"Following Ziggurat's lead again, I see. You've sunk back down, Argo." Gingka snapped back.

"Oh please. Taking you down by teaming up with him will be worth it. You and your little friends are always ruining our plans."

"And I plan on continuing to do so. Now are you going to make it easy on yourself and let me pass, or am I going to have to bother fighting you?" Gingka asked.

"Oh, of course you have to fight. I came all the way out here, after all." Argo laughed as he raised his launcher.

"This won't take long." Gingka growled. "Three!"

"Two." A mischievous gleam was in Argo's eye as he tensed for launch.

"One!" Gingka put his full focus into defeating the enemy at hand and finding his friends. Little did he know the trouble he was about to get himself into.

"Take this!" Argo cackled as his Ray Gil charged and delivered a powerful uppercut attack.

Gingka growled in surprise as Pegasus was sent flying. Since when did Argo use uppercut attacks?

"That's cute, Argo, but Benkei has a lot more punch to his uppercuts than you do." Gingka called, as Pegasus landed safely and unleashed a heavy barrage attack, only to be sent flying by another uppercut.

"Does he now? Are you really sure about that, Hagane?" Argo sneered.

Gingka narrowed his eyes. "You don't know Benkei. You can try to do uppercut attacks, but you won't come close to his. Bull is a master of those."

"I am aware of that." Argo chuckled. "That's why I am using them to defeat you."

"You can only try!" Gingka exclaimed, creating a ring of flames around Argo's bey.

Argo grinned maliciously. "You won't gain anything by defeating me, Hagane. Whether or not I win doesn't matter here!"

"If I beat you then I move on to get to my friends who you and Ziggurat stole." Gingka growled. "It matters a lot more than you think."

"Does it? Does it really?" Argo said confidently.

Gingka narrowed his eyes, wondering how Argo was so unfazed by the rapidly rising circle of flames that Pegasus was creating. The redhead decided not to waste time dwelling on it, and began closing in his ring of flames.

"Pegasus, Storm Bringer!" Gingka called.

Pegasus darted for the center, slamming into Ray Gil and sending it flying. As Gingka yelled, he could have sworn he heard Benkei yelling with him. The sound seemed so real that Gingka even glanced around for an instant, but saw nothing. He soon forgot entirely about it as Argo flew back and hit the ground with a thud, Gil landing motionless beside its master. Gingka took this as his cue to continue on, snatching Pegasus up and running past Argo.

By the time Gingka reached the tower, his blader's spirit was so fired up he could have sworn Pegasus was spinning had it not been in his hand, pulsating with its own power. Then again, for that matter, Gingka himself was pulsating with his own power. He thought this was slightly an odd thing to be happening, but didn't bother thinking too deeply about it. After all, his priority was to get to his friends and make sure they were safe.

"Quite fascinating. He has no clue the hole he has dug himself into." Ziggurat chuckled. "Oh but my plan is working splendidly!"

"Where are you Ziggurat?" Gingka challenged as he entered the building at last, looking around for any trace of, well, anyone.

"Well, well, well, you made it after all, little Hagane. And without the help of your friends. Perhaps I did underestimate you, but we shall see."

"Care to come out rather than hiding behind your walls and lackeys?" Gingka asked.

"Oh but that would be no fun now would it?" Ziggurat laughed. "You could never guess where I am."

"Oh yeah?" Gingka challenged, looking around for any sort of doorway to go through, only to find suddenly that even the one he had entered by seemed to have disappeared. He was faced only with smooth, shining black walls.

"You really have walked yourself into it this time, Hagane." Ziggurat sneered. "You have no clue what you have done. What you are doing now."

"I know exactly what I'm doing." Gingka growled. "I'm breaking out of here and coming for you."

"Ah ah ah!" Ziggurat said in a scolding tone. "You see, these thirteen panels are hiding something. One hides the door you entered by. One hides one of your precious little friends. And the other eleven are hiding either one of my 'lackeys' as you called them, or some sort of weapon. So here is your challenge." Ziggurat chuckled.

Gingka narrowed his eyes, already reaching for his launcher.

"You can open one door. But, when you open a door, assuming you can even smash through these metal walls with that bey of yours in such a tight amount of space, the floor will drop away. So, you will be forced to jump into the room with whatever you smashed open."

Gingka narrowed his eyes further, clenching his teeth and growling under his breath. He could practically hear the smirk on Ziggurat's face.

"I don't think it needs to be said that you'd rather not fall down a pit for a third time." Ziggurat chuckled. "But know that if you jump into a door with a weapon, it will attack you, and you may die a much more painful death than you would by falling. On the contrary, if you end up with one of my… Shall we say, coworkers, you will be forced to fight them. Of course, if you happen to find your friend, then it is up to you to get out of the room with or without them, whichever you can manage. And if you find the exit, well then you'll just have to find another way inside, because that door will close behind you again. Now, little Gingka… Which will you choose?"

"You really are foolish if you think I can't smash them all at once." Gingka growled.

"Oh? Enlighten me then and do try." Ziggurat challenged.

Almost before Ziggurat had even finished speaking, Gingka had raised his launcher and launched, a shockwave rippling from the silver and blue bey as it smashed through and broke holes in all thirteen doors around Gingka. Time seemed to slow as Gingka's whole body pulsed in an almost painful manner, the redhead's eyes skimming immediately around himself for the one thing that was not threatening. In an instant, just as the floor began to give way, he leapt, nearly hitting his head on the bent and twisted piece of metal that had been blocking the hole he now dove through, tumbling to a stop on the ground inside.

"Ohohoho. Quite impressive moves there." Ziggurat said, and it took Gingka a couple of seconds to realize that he had indeed leapt into the safe room rather than the one with restraints that he had seen in his split-second glance. For a moment, he had felt as if he were tied down, but getting up soon rid him of this feeling.

"Now, let's see what you do with this?" Ziggurat asked with a chuckle.

"Zero!" Gingka exclaimed as he spotted the younger blader hanging from the far wall by his wrists, which were shackled above his head.

Gingka began to run forwards with the intent of freeing his protege.

"Gingka… Don't…" Zero's voice echoed.

Gingka nearly skidded to a halt, but was too late as he slammed into an invisible barrier similar to the one that Zero had run into when Gingka had been the one shackled to a wall.

Gingka groaned under his breath, partially from pain, partially from annoyance. Getting thrown on one's back did not feel very good, he decided, as he laid on the ground for a few moments attempting to catch his breath, something which the unsettling feeling of being pinned down again was not helping him do.

Quickly, Gingka sat up, then stood, relieved that Ziggurat had not used a force field to pin him to the ground the moment he had fallen. Somehow, he was sure that Ziggurat had that capability. Gingka shook the thought out of his mind. The last person he should be worrying about right now was himself. His priority was to get Zero free, and hopefully the younger blader would turn out to be unharmed, although from the limp way the Ifrit blader was hanging, this was unlikely.

"Ziggurat, you'd better not have hurt him." Gingka growled under his breath, cautiously advancing forwards in an attempt to get through the force field. He knew it had to be possible. If it weren't possible, Gingka would make it possible.

"I'll let you get to him, I suppose." Ziggurat chuckled. "But I'm not going to just let him go, of course."

Gingka narrowed his eyes as he heard a humming sound shut off into dead silence. He hesitated for only an instant, wondering if Ziggurat was tricking him, then darted forwards unhindered and reached Zero.

"Zero! Zero, can you hear me?" Gingka asked, reaching up and tilting the blader's head towards him carefully.

Zero groaned faintly, causing Gingka to fear the worst for a split second before he shook the idea out of his head and stepped back, raising Pegasus and aiming carefully for the shackles that were holding Zero to the wall.

"Get it, Pegasus!" Gingka called, smashing the lock to bits with a single strike, then catching Zero as the younger fell.

"Come on... Wake up…" Gingka muttered as he carefully lifted the younger blader into his arms. Zero just laid there, almost frighteningly still, which, Gingka had to admit, scared him to no small extent. If just Zero were in this condition, then what did that mean for the others? What did that mean for Madoka?

Gingka growled under his breath and forced himself to shake the worries out of his mind, focusing on the task at hand, which was making sure that Zero was okay. Gingka carefully sat down, leaning Zero against himself, and pressed two shaking fingers to the younger's neck. Much to the redhead's relief, there was a strong, steady thumping against his fingers, indicating that Zero was at least alive and seemingly alright, although clearly unconscious.

Relief filled Gingka's mind as he hugged the limp younger blader in a protective manner. Soon, he realized how much of a problem he had on his hands. Clearly, an unconscious Zero would not be able to help him, and since Zero could not do anything until he woke up, Gingka knew that he would have to carry the younger blader.

Gingka stood and looked around, holding on to Zero tightly, partially so he wouldn't drop him, partially to remind himself that he had already rescued one person, and that said person was safe, at least for the moment. Gingka's eyes scanned for some sort of exit. Clearly he couldn't return the way he had come. He knew that the walls to either side likely contained one of Ziggurat's traps. That left the back wall, the one which Zero had been previously chained to. Gingka narrowed his eyes and ordered Pegasus to charge that wall, blowing through it effortlessly.

As Gingka stepped cautiously through the hole he had just created, he looked around, using Pegasus to light up the otherwise dark room, which appeared to be empty. Somehow, Gingka felt that it wasn't as empty as it appeared. A grinding noise reached his ears and he whirled just as a smooth metal panel slid over the hole he had entered by. Gingka scowled at this, wondering what Ziggurat had planned for him next. Was he being studied? Knowing his enemy, Gingka would not be surprised if that were the case.

A low moan from Zero soon attracted the redhead's attention back to the teenager he was still carrying.

"Zero..?" Gingka said softly, his voice bouncing off the walls and making the space he was in seem much closer.

"Hnn…?" Zero opened his eyes sligtly.

Gingka sighed in relief. "Can you hear me?" He asked softly.

"... Gingka?" Zero muttered.

Gingka felt as if an enormous weight had come off his shoulders. "Yeah, it's me."

"Where are we?" Zero asked, lifting his head off of Gingka's shoulder where it had been resting and looking around dizzily.

"Somewhere in the Spiral Force's main tower." Gingka muttered, honestly not sure whether he was still actually inside the tower or in another part of the enormous structure. For all he knew, Ziggurat could be preparing to dump him and Zero out the bottom of the city and into the ocean.

Gingka sighed heavily, forcing himself to calm down and think. There had to be a way out of here. There always was.

"Can you stand?" He asked.

Zero hesitated, then nodded. "I think so, but… I'm a bit dizzy."

"That should wear off depending on how you were knocked out." Gingka sighed, carefully setting Zero down and keeping one arm around the younger's shoulders to steady him.

"They took Ifrit…" Zero grumbled, feeling at his empty belt.

Gingka sighed. "We'll find it. Just stick close to me. We have to find the others."

Zero nodded.

"Do you have any clue where they were taken?"

Zero shook his head. "One moment I was watching you run off out of sight down the street, the next moment I wake up here."

"I see…" Gingka trailed off, looking around at his and Zero's surroundings.

"... Are we trapped?" Zero asked.

"No." Gingka replied quickly, although he honestly wasn't sure. This small circular room looked very similar to the last, and Gingka had honestly forgotten which way he came in. The redhead made a mental note to not turn around in every which direction the next time he entered a room. Knowing which way to go next would be very helpful at this point.

"Same game, Hagane. But this time, you don't want to let your little friend drop through the ground either." Ziggurat's voice came after several moments of silence.

"Thirteen panels, one friend, one exit, eleven hostile possibilities huh?" Gingka muttered to himself, an undertone of complete sarcasm in his voice. "Brilliant. Just what I wanted."

"Oh, but this time, if you find your next friend you will also find young Zero's bey." Ziggurat chuckled.

Gingka smirked, realizing that by placing Ifrit in the same room as whoever else was trapped, Ziggurat had given him a clear advantage.

"Gingka, don't-" Zero began to say something, but Gingka was already attacking, following the faint trail he could all too easily pick up of Ifrit's power and slamming right through that door.

"Oh Hagane, you really are stupid." Ziggurat laughed as an enormous robot stepped out and threw a punch at Gingka and Zero.

Gingka's eyes widened before he dove to the side in an instant, shoving Zero out of the way. The robot's arm hit the floor where they had been standing, leaving a dent.

"Did you think I'd make it that easy? Really?" Ziggurat laughed as the robot again attacked.

"Look out!" Zero called as he darted one way, Gingka heading the other.

"Ziggurat, you are really getting on my nerves now!" Gingka exclaimed, attacking the robot full-force with Pegasus.

"Why thank you. I do try." Ziggurat laughed. "But really, Gingka, you are gullible. All too gullible."

Zero, who was now behind the robot, gasped. "Gingka! Don't attack!" He yelled, then yelped and dove to the side as the robot swung an arm at him.

However, Gingka, who was too occupied dodging the robot's swings, did not hear Zero's warning.

"Pegasus!" He yelled, his mind having only one focus. The robot attacked relentlessly. Gingka attacked even more relentlessly, almost recklessly. Zero was forced to dive out of the way as Pegasus slammed the robot into the wall with brute force, cracking the metal outer shell of the robot.

Ziggurat began laughing as the robot threw one last punch at Gingka, who unleashed a full-power attack from Pegasus on its core before Zero could shout a second warning. The next sound anyone heard was an ear-splitting scream, but it had not come from the voice of either Gingka or Zero, oh no.

It was the scream of a woman.

* * *

 **-Cue maniacal cackling- I dunno what I'm about to do to myself or to you guys and hopefully I can carry through with it because hey, evil plotting authoress over here, y'know? You may or may not be able to guess whose scream ended this chapter rather dramatically, and you probably can guess from the context of the earlier chapters, but we shall see. -grins mischievously- All I will say now is that my first major plot twist is in the next chapter. Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	6. When Life Comes to an End

**Gingka: -freaking out- RED ALERT! GALAXY'S IN THE EMO CORNER OVER HER OWN CHAPTER AGAIN! THIS IS NOT GOOD!**

 **-from emo corner- Oh, relax Gingka! It's only my first major plot twist!**

 **Gingka: Why can't there be two emo corners?! TT_TT**

 **Because I only have one. Anyway, enjoy! But... Grab some tissues.**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 60**

* * *

Gingka felt as if his heart had stopped beating within his chest as the screaming sound faded away. Pegasus bounced back to the ground, a slight spattering of blood trailing with it, and froze in place. A look of utter horror was on Zero's face as the younger blader's eyes flashed from Gingka to the wreckage of the fallen robot and back.

Gingka felt as if he were going to vomit, his entire body frozen in the horror of what had just happened, no.. What he had just done. It was all too clear now just the extent Ziggurat had gone to in tricking him. But Gingka couldn't be angry at Ziggurat. He was too occupied being angry at himself for being so blind, for not just noticing. Only now did he realize that Zero had tried to warn him. He should have listened when the younger had tried. Now it appeared his recklessness was going to cost him greatly.

Gingka felt a sudden urge both to fall to his knees and to rush forwards to what he saw in front of him. This caused him to execute a rather awkward stumbling run for a few steps before he dropped to his knees in front of the shattered and twisted metal that had been the robot. He ignored the scrapes that he got on his arms as he reached inside, his breath hitching in his chest as his fingers came in contact with an alarming amount of moisture.

Everything else around Gingka seemed to fade away as he slipped his arms around the source of the scream and pulled it from the wreckage.

"You killed her, Hagane. What sort of a friend are you?" Ziggurat said, sounding disgusted yet at the same time eerily pleased with what he had just accomplished.

Gingka barely heard Ziggurat, although the tone of the older man's words easily crept into his mind, causing rage to boil up and mix with the extreme, painful sorrow that was burning a hole in his chest. The small spark of hope he had left in him told him to feel for a pulse, something he remembered his father showing him how to do a long time ago, when all was innocence and joy and there was no such thing as evil to be worried about.

Gingka rarely cried, even when alone, but nothing could stop the painful tears from slipping out of his eyes as he pressed two fingers against the pale, graceful neck of the person he was holding- and felt nothing. A low growl tore from his throat and soon morphed into an anguished cry, a noise he had not made since he had sat near the collapsed entrance of a cave in Koma Village eleven years ago, when he had cried for his father.

Gingka, after releasing the noise, looked back down into a face still filled with pain that was just beginning to fade away.

"Madoka… I'm so sorry…" He whispered in a choked voice, unable to stop the tears from streaming heavily as he stared at her pale, cold face. He held her closely in a protective manner, ignoring the heavy amounts of blood that stained his and her clothing.

"So much for all that you ever told your friends about friendship and caring for one another, Hagane. Now you've killed one of your closest friends." Ziggurat said.

Gingka growled angrily, a slight red tint creeping into Pegasus as the bey shook slightly with the rage of its master.

"Gingka… Stop…"

The redhead froze and gasped as he heard the ghost of Madoka's voice, although he couldn't tell from where. THe red aura faded out of Pegasus's blazing blue as it steadied.

"Incoming!" Zero called suddenly as eleven of the other doors opened and several enemy bladers raced in, three of the Garcias and Damian among their number.

Gingka seemingly took no notice as he placed a tender kiss on Madoka's cold forehead, not willing to let go of her corpse even to take on the battle at hand.

"Now Hagane, will you come along quietly and actually go with my plans like I wanted, or will you try to fight back and risk killing more of your friends?" Ziggurat taunted as the enemy bladers raised their launchers.

Gingka hesitated. Normally, this would be an easy choice, of course, but with the second part of Ziggurat's statement, and the proof that the evil mastermind wasn't lying laying lifelessly in his arms, he wasn't so sure anymore. Half of his mind was screaming at him to fight back, because if he didn't fight back he couldn't rescue his friends. However, the other half of him was pleading with him to not risk a second friend dying, and to lie down and quit.

"Gingka!" Zero exclaimed, sounding slightly frightened as the enemy prepared for launch.

It was the tone in Zero's voice that made the decision for Gingka. Pegasus pulsated powerfully, the resulting shockwave knocking everyone but Gingka up against the wall. Zero chose to stay there, sliding down and sitting against the wall as he watched, eyes wide at the amount of power he had just felt.

"You stay away from them." Gingka outright snarled as he turned and glared angrily at the surrounding enemies, turning and standing with Madoka's limp form still in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder.

"Gingka…" Zero whispered as he saw quite plainly the restrained rage hidden behind the redhead's eyes.

"You tricked me once." Gingka growled, glaring at nobody in particular despite the fact that he was looking in the direction of the enemy bladers. "I wouldn't suggest even trying it again. It won't work."

"You can't win, Hagane." Ziggurat taunted. "Either you give in or your friends die, whether at my hand or yours."

"There's always a third option." Gingka growled. "And I always go for that one."

"Really now? That's quite a nice thing of you to believe when I have already won." Ziggurat chuckled.

"The battle's not over until the last bey spins." Gingka said. "And the last time I checked… Pegasus was still spinning."

Zero gasped slightly as the silver and blue bey pulsed again, throwing the enemy bladers back against the wall as Gingka's aura expanded and engulfed both him and the lifeless Madoka.

"You will not win. I always win, no matter what the odds." Gingka growled, his eyes flashing and glowing blue as he released more power than he had ever known he had before.

"Excellent." Ziggurat chuckled.

"If you're just studying me, I don't care." Gingka growled. "But you'll regret it."

"Oh no, I don't believe that I will." Ziggurat chuckled. "You care for your friends so much that you release more power when you want to save them, and that is precisely what I will use to bring you under my control."

"As if." Gingka growled, his eyes flashing as Pegasus burst a hole through the ceiling and several stories up before returning. The entire structure around them shook, as a few stray fragments of the above devastation that Gingka had just caused fell down and crashed to the floor in the center of the room.

Gingka narrowed his eyes, wondering why the enemies he was facing were still smirking and not trembling. He let off a third shockwave of pure energy towards them, but they merely got back up and launched in sync, as if on a silent order from somewhere.

"Gingka…" Zero's voice echoed in a whisper, barely heard by the redhead who was still clutching the one he had loved.

Tears were still brimming around Gingka's eyes as he glared at each of the enemy bladers in turn, anger rising in him that had only really risen once before, the time he had battled Ryuga and lost for the first time.

"Please… Calm down Gingka… Stop this…"

A few tears spilled over the edges of Gingka's eyes as he again heard Madoka's voice in his mind, knowing what she would have said. Yet he could never have known what that really meant as he took a deep breath and attacked.

Pegasus spun beautifully, slamming through opponent after opponent with deadly precision. Gingka felt as if his heart were pounding in his head, closing his eyes tightly as the emotional pain of knowing that he had been too blind to see that he was being tricked into killing Madoka set in. He attacked from pure instinct, hearing the cries of his friends in the back of his mind and using them to remind himself that this wasn't over yet.

He had lost Madoka, permanently, that much Gingka knew for sure. But what would the brunette have wanted him to do?

"Gingka… Stop fighting…"

Gingka's breath hitched in his throat slightly as he heard the voice again, faint and muffled, yet the tones were definitely Madoka's. But that, Gingka knew, was not something that Madoka would have told him to do… Was it?

Tear-filled golden-brown opened slightly and looked down at Madoka, the only sound he could hear being the clash of his bey still fighting the enemy mostly on its own and the sound of his own pounding, adrenaline-fueled heartbeat. In that moment, he knew that the voice he was hearing couldn't be hers. Gingka decided that it must be some part of the aftermath his grief over her was causing. Madoka would never tell him to stop fighting, no. She would only tell him to keep fighting. But what could he do when his enemy seemed to have planned out not only their every, step, but also his?

Gingka was being hopelessly manipulated into a maze, that much he knew. Undoubtedly, Ziggurat had modified this part of the building simply to keep him confused, perhaps even running around in circles until he wore down and could fight no longer. Gingka hid a faint smirk as the thought popped into his head that he would not be worn down. He would never stop fighting. Little did he know the trouble that was approaching him rapidly by his decision to continue fighting. Then again, fighting was always the harder way out, but Gingka tended to like the results of fighting back better than the results of laying down and quitting.

"Pegasus!" Gingka called, snapping his attention back to the battle at hand as he found that Pegasus had been surrounded while he was occupied with his thoughts.

"Send it flying, Gil!"

"Didn't learn the first time, did you?" Gingka growled as Argo delivered an uppercut attack, only to be sent flying himself, while Pegasus barely budged.

"Then why don't you try on this beautifully artistic combination?" Jack asked, having apparently rejoined with Ziggurat, as his Befall created a ring of illusions very similar to Shinobu's Phantom Ring Shot move. At the same time, Damian created a second ring, this one of fire, around Befall. The two circled Pegasus, ready to close in at any moment.

"Oh please." Gingka's voice was laced with angry sarcasm. "Using moves I know how to defeat?" He asked as he easily smacked away both beys, Pegasus still pulsating with power.

Ziggurat chuckled as he watched the battle at hand, seeing the details that Gingka could not see. "Oh Hagane… You are much too blind." He muttered under his breath as Jack and Damian were slammed against the wall and knocked unconscious.

"Sir, the power levels of the Spiral Core are rising to nearly the correct amounts. Should we begin to engage?" A worker said from her desk as she turned from her screen to look up at Ziggurat.

"Oh yes that would be a wonderful idea now, wouldn't it?" Ziggurat chuckled. "We shall watch as Hagane blindly destroys everything he ever stood for without even knowing what he is doing."

"Very well Hagane, I will allow you to have a short break." Ziggurat said at last through the speakers in the room where Gingka was, just as the redhead smacked the final enemy bey into the wall with a single attack from Pegasus.

"I'm not going to give you time to plan your next step, Ziggurat!" Gingka shouted.

"Oh, I don't need time to plan. You do." Ziggurat chuckled as his bladers retreated, leaving Gingka and Zero once again alone in the room with its seamless walls.

"I never plan." Gingka growled under his breath. "I have my plan. To defeat you and save the rest of my friends."

"You still do not understand that you have already failed?" Ziggurat asked quizzically. "I thought that the sight of your dead girlfriend would be enough to break you."

"She wasn't my girlfriend…" Gingka muttered sorrowfully, looking back into the peaceful white face resting against his shoulder. "I never got the chance to ask her to be that…" He said in a soft tone that only he could really hear.

"G-Gingka… We should get out of here and find the others…" Zero said hesitantly.

Gingka knew that Zero was right. But he didn't want to leave. Leaving the area he was in likely meant that he had to leave Madoka behind, and he simply wasn't prepared for that. He had loved her, had wanted to be more than friends, but every time he had gathered his courage and tried to tell her, he had chickened out because she terrified and enchanted him at the same time. Because of that, the last thing Gingka wanted to do was move on. But he knew that if he didn't, more people would be harmed.

"I"m sorry, Madoka… So, so sorry…" Gingka whispered, trembling violently as he knelt and slowly laid Madoka back on the ground, knowing full well that he may not be able to come back for her body to give her the respectful burial she deserved. But he had to press on and fight this war, and he could not do so if he was trying to carry her with him.

More stray tears fell from Gingka's face as he forced himself to let go of the woman he loved, laying her lifeless body on the ground before pausing and gently shutting her eyes. He choked back a sob that threatened to escape him, laying her hands one atop the other on her stomach with great care and brushing a few stray hairs out of her face. He rested his hand on her cheek for a few moments, rubbing the cold skin with his thumb.

"We… Need to go…" Zero whispered as the room shook.

Gingka nodded, forcing himself to stand and turn away from Madoka. He had only once known that a movement could hurt so much. Now he felt as if his heart were going to explode in his chest from the sorrow that was threatening to overcome him.

It was with the heaviest heart he had ever had that Gingka turned away from Madoka's lifeless body and ran out the nearest exit with Zero close behind.

* * *

 **I have really nothing more to say, sooo... Until next time, Galaxy out! -goes back to sulking in emo corner-**


	7. The Reality of a Nightmare

**I'm a day late because I was designing and computer coloring a bey (Which is now up on my Deviantart profile if you wanna see it) for one of my OCs, Arashi Hikou, but I am back now with this chapter! Yay for more foreshadowing and craziness and suspense, all the stuff along the lines of "Oh gosh what the heck is Ziggurat up to?" Enjoy!**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 78**

* * *

"Manager? Anyone?"

Zero's voice and the sound of running feet echoed through the corridors as the Ifrit and Pegasus bladers ran in search of their other comrades. No further traps had been found for them to escape, and Gingka wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad one.

Gingka ran silently, letting Zero do all of the calling in hopes for a reply. The redhead didn't trust his voice at the moment enough to call out himself. He was too filled with sorrow for that. But, he thought, at least looking for his other friends was something to do, something to distract him from the all-too-fresh memory of Madoka's death. Oh how in the name of Pegasus could he have been so blind?! He should have figured Ziggurat would trick him. However, it had never entered his young mind that he would be tricked badly enough so as to end up killing an innocent and already wounded friend.

Gingka pushed the thought out of his mind as his vision clouded over with tears. He decided that he would have to mourn later. Now was the time to fight back.

"Zero? Is that you?"

"Director Ootori?" Zero called back, and Gingka felt a hint of relief as he stopped running, scanning in one direction for the source of the voice while Zero scanned the other.

"There!" Zero pointed and Gingka automatically swiveled around just in time to see Tsubasa run past their corridor in a silver and burgundy flash, a second red and burgundy flash just behind him with several HD Academy bladers following.

"Dad…" Gingka thought, relieved to see the one person he had wanted most to see at that particular moment. His mind snapped back into action and he took off, with Zero following along behind him.

"Director! We're behind you!" Zero called as he and Gingka rounded the corner and spotted the retreating group.

"Gingka! … How'd you get here?" Tsubasa asked.

"Hikaru." Gingka said, surprised at how calm he sounded. The HD Academy bladers stopped, half of them turning around.

"Who's surrounded now?" Ryo called in a taunting tone, his eyes easily catching the sorrowful look in the eyes of his son.

"Three of you don't have your beys." The HD Academy bladers replied.

"Only two of us don't." Zero growled, raising his launcher and attaching Ifrit to it. Gingka was surprised for a moment before remembering that his reason for attacking the wall he had, before the robot appeared, was that Ifrit had been in that direction. He figured that Zero must have grabbed it at some point without him noticing.

"We will take you all down, count on it!" The enemy bladers said, raising their launchers towards both groups. Gingka's eyes flashed before Pegasus spiraled in, weaving between the feet of the HD Academy bladers and gleaming dangerously, ready to take them out the moment they launched.

"Let it Rip!" Zero and the enemy bladers called, and within seconds, the hallway practically exploded. Everyone was blown back, save for Gingka, who had caused the explosion and seemed to not even be affected by it, as if he were protected by some transparent wall.

"Well, that's one way to do it." Tsubasa muttered as he sat up, putting a hand to his head and looking back down the hallway towards where he and Ryo had been standing.

Ryo was already back on his feet and stepping over several unconscious HD Academy bladers towards his son, who was standing unaffected in the center of the devastation he himself had just caused, staring blankly down at Pegasus, which was spinning steadily at his feet.

Gingka barely registered the feeling of his father's arms wrapping around him as he stood motionless, eyebrows furrowed slightly as he tried to make sense of what was going on in his own mind. Much to the added pain of sorrow in his heart, he could still hear Madoka's voice. Strangely, she-if it even was her and not some figment of his imagination- was still pleading with him to stop fighting.

Gingka thought suddenly that perhaps he was somehow hearing the last thing she had wanted him to do. He didn't know whether she had been conscious during the fight that ended with her death, but if so…

Gingka let out a slight growling noise that was soon cut off by a confused whimper as his head pulsed suddenly, nearly causing him to fall to his knees- and he would have- if it hadn't been for Ryo steadying him with a concerned look on his face.

"I… Think we need to get him out of here. Something's not right." Ryo said, partially to himself, as Zero and Tsubasa came up beside him.

"N-no…" Gingka said hoarsely, pulling away from Ryo and steadying himself. "I'm fine. We have to rescue the others…"

"This is turning more into a nightmare than a rescue mission." Tsubasa sighed.

"Gingka… Are you injured?" Ryo asked, putting his hands on Gingka's shoulders and looking him over.

Gingka looked down at his bloodstained clothing.

"... N-no.." He whispered. "That's... Not mine…"

Ryo raised an eyebrow confusedly.

"... Madoka's dead…" Gingka whispered in a barely audible tone, desperately trying to cling to the feeling of his father's strong and gentle hands on his shoulders rather than the sorrow that threatened to consume him, but somehow he found no comfort in this at all. It was as if everything around him weren't real, and it might as well be that way considering the amount of comfort he was receiving even from the hug his father gave him. Gingka certainly wished that it were a nightmare, that he could wake up and find that all was just fine. But it was all too real.

"It's going to be okay, Gingka." Ryo whispered in his son's ear.

"We need to get the others…" Gingka said, pulling away from his father and starting off down the hall again. Tsubasa, Ryo, and Zero exchanged a worried glance before following the redhead, Pegasus following after the whole group, still engulfed in blazing flames that, if one looked closely, seemed to be drifting more downwards, as if something were pulling at them.

* * *

Ziggurat watched the group on his screens, smirking as he continued to watch the events that Gingka was all too blind to see at the moment. If things went the way Ziggurat intended, the way he had set them up to go, Gingka would never wake up to the truth. He would remain blind, and nothing he could do would save his friends or him.

Ziggurat furrowed his eyebrows as he realized something, however. How long would he really be able to drag this out? He knew that this fight wouldn't last forever. After all, no human being could keep up a fight forever. Even Gingka, who seemed so invincible, had to get tired eventually. Ziggurat smirked at the thought that Hagane's stubbornness was precisely what was making his plan work so beautifully.

And, if Gingka ever did realize what was happening, Ziggurat could just end it all.

"That's it, Hagane. Cling to that hope you have always known. It will be the very thing that destroys itself in the end." Ziggurat chuckled. "Because everything you can see before you… Is more than it seems. So much more."

* * *

"Shinobu? Ren? Anyone?"

"Benkei if you're listening answer me!"

Tsubasa and Zero's cries rang through the air, accompanied by the sounds of their running feet. They ran down several hallways, not really knowing where they were, but navigation wasn't currently the uppermost topic on their minds.

"A dead end?" Zero said as they came up against a solid wall. Another wall slid down behind them, blocking off the way they had come.

"Great. Another trap." Zero groaned. Ryo put a hand on Gingka's shoulder, only his eyes catching the slight tremor in the body of the young man he had raised.

Gingka fought off the fear. If this was another trap, what would he find behind it? Pegasus circled the feet of its blader slowly, still glowing and pulsating slightly with power as it awaited an order.

"What do we do now, Gingka?" Zero asked, looking worriedly towards the older blader.

Gingka glanced around at his friends and father.

"We get out of here." He said with as much determination as he could muster into his voice. Before he had finished speaking, the room jolted and began to fall, the lights flickering. Gingka and the others nearly fell over, pressing their backs against the walls in an attempt to gain some sort of stability as they plummeted.

Gingka felt it again, that odd sensation from before of something grabbing at his body and pinning him down. He narrowed his eyes, scowling slightly and trembling. A startled yelp escaped him as the room they were in jerked roughly to a halt, sending the four of them sprawling on the ground. Gingka was the first back to his feet, looking around and breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush that the fall had brought on.

"It's gotten a lot warmer…" Tsubasa muttered as he stood, pulling at the collar of his dress shirt slightly and frowning.

"Then we must be near the Spiral Core… It generated a lot of heat last time when me and Madoka came down and defeated it." Gingka muttered, pressing a hand to his forehead as it began pounding again, the heat only adding to the pressure he felt.

"Why would Ziggurat send us down here?" Zero wondered, then jumped slightly as a door slid opened across from him.

"Better out there than stuck in here. I doubt he'll let us back up." Ryo said, leading the way out of what was apparently an elevator and into a room glowing a light blue color and shimmering with heat from the hot gears and mechanisms of the Spiral Core.

"Whoa… Is it bad if I say that I'm impressed at the size of this place?" Zero asked, looking around in surprise at the slowly turning parts that sparked from time to time with electricity.

"Not bad, but we are looking at the energy source of a weapon capable of mass destruction." Gingka muttered. "You're the only one who hasn't seen what it can really do."

"Look, there are the others' beys." Tsubasa pointed to a bey dish that was on a balcony overlooking the main core.

"... So that's how he's powering it for now… But how did he power it in the first place? He shouldn't need them… Unless…" Ryo's eyes widened slightly. "Oh."

"What is it?" Gingka asked, raising an eyebrow at his father.

"Whatever power source he had before, it wasn't powerful enough to do much more than fly. That's why he didn't just attack Metal Bey City. He wanted to lure us into a trap, to get us to power it somehow. Tsubasa and I broke out of their captivity, but if the others didn't and their beys are here…" Ryo trailed off and glanced at Tsubasa, who was biting his lip.

"Then what?" Gingka asked slowly, almost afraid of the answer.

"Wait, but I was just shackled to a wall and Ziggurat left Ifrit in the wall behind the robot where…" Zero glanced at Gingka before continuing. "Where Madoka was trapped…"

"You and here were just to lure me in…" Gingka muttered. "Ziggurat let me find you. He counted on me coming to break you guys out, but it seems that he was a bit more prepared for us all this time. He's using our own moves against us. He knew I'd be able to trace Ifrit so he put the robot between us and it… And then he made me defend myself from the robot and that was my first mistake, was falling for it…"

Zero looked sympathetically at the older redhead as Ryo put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"We've done all we can." Ryo said. "Let's focus on saving the others before it's too late. I think I have a clue where they are, if where me and Tsubasa almost ended up is any indicator."

"The Arrangement Systems." Tsubasa said, narrowing his eyes. "Ziggurat was trying to put us into them. If the beys of the others are here, then the others must be elsewhere, but not too far off."

"What is the Arrangement System?" Zero asked, although he was hesitant.

"Long story short, it's supposed to synchronize the mind of bey and blader so that a blader can bring out the fullest abilities of their bey… And a bey is what powers the Arrangement System." Gingka said softly. "But not everyone can handle it… It drives many people insane from what we know."

"We have to move quickly." Ryo breathed, looking around.

"Eagle and Fireblaze are in the stadium. They must have launched them here before trying to put us in." Tsubasa said, looking into the bey dish and watching the circling beys. He reached out a hand and Eagle leapt gracefully into it. The glow in the room dimmed ever so slightly.

"How are we supposed to get the others?" Zero asked.

"Only one way, probably. And we have to cut the power." Gingka stated, stepping up to the side of the dish. Pegasus darted to the very edge, hesitating for only a moment before swooping gracefully downwards and blazing brilliantly.

"Oh, but that will not end in the best way." Ziggurat's voice chuckled. "You see Hagane, as you have so cleverly realized, this stadium is a power source for the Spiral Core. And you have just added an extremely powerful bey into the mixture."

"Not for long." Gingka growled as Pegasus pulsated, the shock wave absorbing into the stadium and causing the entire room around them to pulse, demonstrating exactly what was happening.

"We have to knock out the other beys. Alright, got it!" Zero said, launching without hesitation.

"Fireblaze!" Ryo called, taking control of his own steadily spinning bey and causing it to catch fire, blazing steadily alongside Gingka's brilliantly glowing Pegasus. The Haganes' beys spun in perfect sync, spiraling around each other and pincering one bey after another into the air.

"Come on Zero. Let's follow that pattern." Tsubasa said, finding a launcher that was hidden within his suit coat and using it to launch Eagle into the stadium next to Ifrit.

"Right." Zero nodded. "Ifrit! Burning Uppercut!"

Ifrit burst into flames, but in the next instant, Pegasus swooped in and stopped the other synchrom bey in its tracks.

"Gingka?" Zero looked confusedly at the redhead.

"We have to let off as little power as possible." Gingka said firmly. "We don't want to give Ziggurat any more than we have to to knock these guys out. Just shove them out of the stadium. Once they're outside, the drain of their power will be stopped and we can just grab them."

"Right. Sorry." Zero said, nodding as Pegasus separated itself from Ifrit and went after Bull, shoving the stubborn silver and red bey up the side of the stadium. However, Bull dug its hooves into the ground and stopped moving, refusing to budge.

Gingka's eyes widened slightly at this. "Bull is being controlled. None of these beys are just spinning on their own."

"But is it by a force field, like what happened in the DNA headquarters when we were rescuing you?" Zero wondered.

"No. This is Benkei's stubbornness." Gingka growled. "But how?"

"Quite perceptive, Hagane. You seem to have forgotten that I am a neurologist."

"A what now?" Zero tilted his head, looking confused.

"Oh, pardon me, you do not know all of these scientific terms. I am an expert on the human mind, you see. Benkei thinks that he is fighting to get someone else out. He won't give up any more than you will, Hagane."

Gingka growled under his breath, a flame seeming to ignite in his eyes. "I hold more power than I did before. Benkei can't defeat me."

"Oh, but at the power level you're currently using, he can." Ziggurat pointed out. "My computer data is showing me that you are using an extremely low level of power. Do you underestimate your friends that much?"

"Don't listen to him, Gingka. Just carry through with what you're doing." Ryo growled, setting half of the stadium ablaze as Fireblaze shoved Ren's Phoenix up and out of the stadium.

"Right…" Gingka muttered before turning his attention back to the stubborn beast in front of him, as Pegasus and Bull headbutted and locked into a combat of pure strength. Both horse and bull dug their hooves in, and just as it looked like Pegasus was going to win out, Bull abruptly caught its horns underneath the winged horse's armor and tossed it easily into the air.

In that moment, Gingka could have sworn he heard Benkei's voice making a triumphant exclamation of "Yes!" However, even if Benkei thought he was fighting someone else, Gingka knew that nobody could have expected Pegasus's speed.

"Gingka!" Zero called worriedly as he spotted the silver and blue bey in the air.

"Pegasus!" Gingka cried, and, much to the shock of those watching, Pegasus abruptly disappeared, reappearing next to Bull an instant later and smacking it into the air with one wing, then leaping after it and kicking the horned beast out of the stadium entirely.

"Oh, bravo Hagane." Ziggurat laughed, sending a shiver down the spines of Gingka's comrades before they could make any sort of shocked exclamation in reaction to the pure skill they had just seen.

"It's time to finish this." Gingka growled, as Pegasus stopped glowing, spinning even faster before vanishing abruptly and reappearing across the stadium, its movement seemingly unpredictable before it smacked three beys out of the stadium at once: Salamander, Orochi, and Leviathan.

Gingka pulled Pegasus out of the stadium and allowed it to resume circling at his feet, somehow still not wanting to pull the bey back into his hand. The feeling in his mind of it spinning provided him some comfort, some source of familiarity that he was unable to grasp from anywhere else in this day that had turned into a complete nightmare in a matter of hours. Gingka would be glad when this was all over and he could just go lie down and rest, have everything be as normal, as impossible as that now seemed.

Pushing the thought of Madoka's now permanent absence from his life out of his mind, Gingka bent down and picked up Bull, slipping the bey into his pocket before turning and looking at the turning gears and mechanisms around him. They had not slowed, but Gingka knew that must be due to their alternate power source.

"Well they were definitely charging something up." Ryo said, examining a computer screen that he had found.

"That's not a problem for us if it's stopped." Tsubasa said.

"Not stopped but it's not climbing very rapidly and I'd rather not find out what happens when it reaches full charge." Ryo said. "Let's get out of here and find our way to the others."

"Agreed." Tsubasa said as Ryo rejoined him, Gingka, and Zero.

"Gingka? Are you alright?" Zero asked concernedly, staring at the redhead, who was staring at Pegasus's spin as if entranced by the gleaming silver and blue bey.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah…" Gingka muttered in a subdued tone, his eyes already losing the fire that had come over them for the brief duration of the battle they had just won.

"Let's get out of this room before we all die of hyperthermia." Tsubasa joked, panting slightly and removing his suit coat, tying the sleeves of it around his waist in an attempt to relieve some of the heat.

"Yeah… I think the exit's this way, unless Ziggurat's remodeled." Gingka said, turning and leading the way, the others trusting his guidance and following behind him as they set off once again into the labyrinth of the Spiral Force.

"You think you're winning… How cute." Ziggurat chuckled to himself as he watched them. "But you won't get in control. As long as you are fighting I have the upper hand, and you wouldn't dare give up to give me the upper hand that way, would you Hagane? Let's see what you will try next. I am waiting."

* * *

 **I think a cryptic line from Ziggurat is an excellent way to end a chapter, although I doubt you guys will agree with me. Maybe you will. ;) Happy Easter! Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	8. Hope for Victory?

**I'm back! Really sleepy right now because it's late, but back! Enjoy da suspense and a bit of Ryo/Gingka father/son things!**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 90!**

* * *

"Do any of us actually know where we're going?" Zero asked as he and the others found themselves facing yet another dead end.

"I actually never saw the Arrangement Systems so… I don't." Gingka admitted with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"I did but this area is unfamiliar." Tsubasa sighed. "I don't know where we are."

"So… We're lost." Zero said.

"We're not lost." Gingka muttered, pressing one hand against the cold wall. "They have to be close…"

"Why does this place have to be such a maze?" Ryo wondered aloud.

"Because Ziggurat changed the order of things and is setting traps…" Gingka muttered, then paused. "I think we have to fall into another trap to find anyone else, if the way this day has gone so far is any indicator…"

Zero frowned. "I don't like those traps though…"

"Me neither…" Gingka muttered in a barely audible tone. Ryo put a hand on his son's shoulder, but Gingka again found that he gained no comfort from it like he would, no, should have.

"I have an idea, but it's a crazy one."

"On a scale of one to Gingka's eyebrows, how crazy is it?" Zero asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Tsubasa and Ryo outright snorted. Gingka gained a tick mark.

"Hey! What's wrong with my eyebrows?" The redhead demanded, glaring at Zero, who was leaning against the wall and clutching his stomach from laughing so hard.

"Not quite Gingka's eyebrows." Tsubasa said, swiping away tears from his eyes and calming down.

"What's wrong with my eyebrows?" Gingka demanded again.

"N-nothing…" Zero said, trying to stop laughing and failing.

"What is your idea, Tsubasa?" Ryo said, chuckling and ruffling Gingka's hair slightly, earning himself an annoyed glare.

"We obviously need to fall into another trap, if that's how Gingka found people."

"Except for you guys…" Gingka muttered. "You were just running down the hallway."

"Yeah, but we had escaped and I don't think the others did." Tsubasa pointed out. "So assuming they are still trapped, and if Ziggurat is playing a game with us, I think our only choice is to play. But I think we should split up to cover more ground, try to meet back outside."

Gingka frowned slightly. "It's me he wants to mess with. He may not mess with any of you."

"In which case it may be easier for us. But we should stay with at least one other person." Tsubasa said.

Ryo nodded. "I'm going with Gingka." He said firmly, putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder again.

"Then Zero's with me." Tsubasa said. "Next intersection we come across, we split up. Gingka? You alright with that?"

"I guess so…" Gingka muttered numbly, staring at the ground and making no acknowledgement of Ryo's hand being on his shoulder.

"Let's go then." Ryo said, beginning to lead the way. Gingka followed closely behind his father, with Tsubasa and Zero following slightly behind them.

"Here we are. Good luck!" Ryo called as he found an intersection, Tsubasa and Zero disappearing down the left branch while he and Gingka took the right one.

"Gingka, you should save your energy and not use it up keeping Pegasus going." Ryo said as the silver and blue bey darted between their feet, sometimes moving ahead, sometimes stopping and falling behind, as Gingka only kept the smallest strands of his control over it to make sure it stayed following him.

"For some reason I just can't bring myself to do that…" Gingka muttered, panting slightly as he ran alongside his father.

Ryo abruptly stopped, Gingka taking only a few more steps before pausing and turning back to his father.

"Gingka." Ryo said softly, stepping up to his son and putting one hand on either of his son's shoulders. Gingka merely stared at the ground, a few tears falling.

"What's wrong, son?" Ryo asked, putting a hand on his son's face and trying to tilt Gingka's head up towards him, but Gingka didn't seem to feel a thing. Tears fell unrestricted down his face, slipping over Ryo's hand and falling to the ground.

Gingka barely noticed the touch of his father's hand on his face as he stared into what somehow seemed to become nothingness as everything faded to white before his eyes. He looked up slowly, as if in a trance, and looked around, but there was nothing to be seen- at least not for the first few seconds. Flashes in the distance gave off the impression of a battle before all snapped back to reality.

"Gingka?" Ryo said worriedly as Gingka lost his balance and stumbled, falling to one knee and panting heavily, his eyes constricted. The older redhead knelt next to his son, worry shining in his eyes as he put one arm around Gingka's back and the other in front of his shoulders, supporting him gently in case he collapsed completely.

Gingka pressed a hand against his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He wondered what was going on. His headache was throwing him even more off balance, yet it wasn't any normal headache. Gingka knew that much very well. After all, normal headaches didn't just randomly come and go… Did they? Something in the back of Gingka's mind knew that something was off. Something was not quite right. Whatever it was, Gingka couldn't pinpoint.

"Gingka, calm down. Just relax, son!"

Gingka could barely hear his father's voice, as if it were off in the distance, muffled by a pane of glass. His eyes shot opened again and he convulsively clutched onto his father, causing the older redhead to jump slightly in surprise.

"Shh… Shh… It's okay.." Ryo said instinctively, just putting his arms around his son and trying to get him to his feet, knowing that they had to keep moving, especially if Gingka was getting into a worse condition.

"Come on, son… We have to get you out of here." Ryo said, half-lifting the younger redhead back to his feet.

"No… We have to get the others…" Gingka said softly, as if he were growing weaker.

"Gingka… You're not alright. I can tell." Ryo said firmly.

All at once, Gingka's headache cleared and he regained his balance, straightening and pulling away from his father, who looked worried.

"It went away. Come on. We have to get the others out… I can't rest until I know they're safe." Gingka said, continuing down the hall. Ryo watched him worriedly for a few moments before hurrying after him, wishing that his son would listen.

Gingka pulled Bull out of his pocket as he walked. "Come on.. Where is your master?" He asked it, not really expecting a response, but having someone-er, something- to ask seemed to help his nerves slightly. Bull merely gleamed in response, yet something about the way it gleamed caused Gingka to narrow his eyes.

"Gingka!" A startled cry from Ryo came.

Gingka whirled, only to see that the section of hallway he was in was shifting, separating from the rest of the hallway and moving sideways. Ryo, running against the speed of a treadmill, was trying to reach him.

"Dad!" Gingka yelped, leaping back towards Ryo, but the gap was already too narrow for him to fit through, and within seconds, it had closed. Gingka pounded a fist against the wall angrily.

"Gingka! Are you still there?" Ryo's voice came muffled through the wall.

"I don't think we can get back, Dad…" Gingka called, clenching his fist and allowing it to fall to his side.

"Pegasus is over here…" Ryo said. "Calm down, Gingka. It's running wild."

"How am I supposed to calm down.. When my next step could mean someone else's death.." Gingka said, angry tears beginning to fall.

"It will be okay, son. We'll find them. Nobody else is going to die." Ryo said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"But what if someone does? Ziggurat fooled me once and… I killed Madoka… What if he does it again?" Gingka asked, punching the wall again out of pure frustration. "What if next time, I kill you?"

"You won't, son. We'll find a way out of this." Ryo said. "Keep moving down your hallway. Have Pegasus move in some direction and try to head towards it. I'll follow it wherever you lead it. We'll meet up somewhere, and it will all be just fine."

"I hope you're right…" Gingka whispered to himself before straightening. "Okay… I'm continuing in the direction we were heading now."

"Don't worry, son. I'll be fine." Ryo said. "I'll see you soon. I promise."

Gingka gave a quick nod before running off down the hallways. His mind remained focused on Pegasus. Several enemies met with him, but he merely smashed through them, hoping that his father were still following. He could almost hear the screech of Fireblaze, even felt it come into contact with Pegasus from time to time.

"He's still there…" Gingka muttered under his breath as he ran, ran around corners and down twisting staircases, always trying to get closer to Pegasus, but somehow he never seemed to. Somehow, his partner and father always seemed to be the exact same distance away, circling rapidly, sometimes meeting with an enemy that Gingka blindly attacked.

"Gingka… Stop fighting… Please…" Madoka's voice again rang in his mind, and Gingka again ignored it, too focused on sending anything that interfered with Pegasus' path flying.

"Gingka.. Calm down…" Another voice rang out softly.

Gingka shook his head to clear it and kept running, as Pegasus's movements grew faster and faster, wilder with each passing second, as if it were out of control. Yet it wasn't. Gingka had the silver and blue bey perfectly under his control. His mind was out of control, as fear, panic, and sorrow all tried to take over at once. Gingka knew that something wasn't right. He was going to get to the bottom of it and fix it. If there was any way possible to fix all of this, Gingka would find it. He always did. He always would.

Gingka smirked slightly as he remembered all of his previous victories. No matter what Ziggurat had in store for him, he would win. His father had been right. Nobody else would die. Especially not at Gingka's hand. Gingka would save them all, like he always did. He would learn and adapt from what he had already seen, like he always did. He was a blader. He was one of the Legendary Bladers, the most powerful bladers in the world. That had been proven time and time again, and Gingka wasn't about to be proven wrong.

Pegasus's movement abruptly steadied and once again became the usual clean arcs, attacking in a graceful yet deadly way. Anything that it connected with was sent flying. Gingka's eyes began to glow with the power he held, his aura appearing and expanding as he and Pegasus unleashed more and more power.

Gingka raced into a large, dark room and paused, his aura flickering wildly around him as he looked around, wondering if he had found another trap. He continued on more slowly, the flames around him lighting his way. An eerie blue glow was coming from the other side, so Gingka pressed towards it.

"Benkei…!" He exclaimed, rushing over to a contraption with a clear dome over it that could only be one thing: The Arrangement System iself. Benkei was clearly visible inside, his large body squeezed into the small space and looking quite uncomfortable.

"Gingka!"

Gingka looked up at the sound of his father's voice, just as the older redhead and Pegasus raced into the room from another direction. Both redheads looked relieved, and Ryo was soon embracing his son tightly in a grasp that Gingka, with some concern, noted that he could not feel very well.

"We have to get him out." Gingka said, hugging his father back for an instant before gesturing to the trapped Benkei.

"But how..?" Ryo mused, stepping over and examining the unconscious Bull wielder in front of them. Benkei was breathing softly, two wires connected to his head, wires that Gingka could only guess were what was keeping Benkei from knowing where he actually was, if what Ziggurat had said meant anything.

"I… Don't know." Gingka muttered, putting a hand on the glass surface. "Do you think he can hear us?"

"I wouldn't know. But there has to be a way to just release him." Ryo mused.

"Stand back." Gingka said, narrowing his eyes before taking several large steps back. Ryo raised an eyebrow and did the same.

Gingka took a deep breath before sweeping one arm dramatically to the side. "Pegasus!" He called, and the bey responded, spreading its wings and taking to the air before bouncing off the top and center of the glass, where Gingka figured was the weakest point. Sure enough, the glass shattered, and the blue light shut off, clamps releasing as Benkei gasped, his eyes snapping opened. Gingka and Ryo ran to his side, yanking the wires off and brushing shattered glass away before helping the Bull wielder up. Benkei shook his head and looked around groggily.

"Bull.. What happened?"

"We just freed you. You were trapped." Gingka said quickly.

"Just take it easy, Benkei." Ryo said, as he and Gingka eased Benkei off the system and got him to his feet.

Benkei paused, blinked, then grinned and wrapped one arm around each Hagane, gripping them in a bone-crushing hug.

"Bull! Boy am I glad to see you two!"

"Benkei.. Too.. Tight…" Gingka gasped, trying to break free of the near-chokehold he was in.

"Ow…" Was all Ryo could manage to say before Benkei released them both, causing both of them to fall to their knees panting..

"We have to get the others out." Benkei said seriously.

Gingka nodded, gasping for breath and rubbing his collarbone. He wouldn't have been surprised if Benkei had given him a bruise, or even whiplash, from the force with which the bulky man had hugged him.

Ryo chuckled. "Well, at least we have one out." He said, giving Gingka a look that said "I told you so."

Gingka grumbled something under his breath and stood, dusting himself off.

"Come on. Hopefully Tsubasa and Zero are having as much progress as we are." He said, pulling Bull out of his pocket once more and tossing it to Benkei, who caught it and rubbed it against his face for a couple of seconds before putting it away.

Ryo nodded firmly. "Right behind you, son." He said.

Gingka nodded and ran off, hoping that he could find the others before Ziggurat had time to enact his plan… Whatever that was. Little did Gingka know that Ziggurat's plan was already well underway… And that it had already succeeded.

* * *

 **Dun dun duuun! Enjoy the suspense. I think my next main plot twist will be in the next chapter soooo... Brace yourselves. ^w^ Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	9. Snatched in an Instant

**-sobbing in emo corner- I'M NOT SORRY! I HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FROM THE BEGINNING AND I'M NOT SORRY. Okaymaybejustalittlebitbutnotreally. FEEEEEELLLLLSSS. -maniacal giggling- You are welcome. Plot twists FTW!**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 94. (Wow, not nearly the amount that it has been the last few chapters, that's only four new pieces, but I suppose that's because I was more focused on the plot twist in this chapter.)**

* * *

"So… Madoka's… Dead… Tsubasa and Zero are off trying to find the others… And we're doing the same?" Benkei said, panting slightly as he jogged behind Gingka and next to Ryo, who had just explained what was going on to him.

"Yeah… Don't mention Madoka to Gingka. He's taken a hard hit as it is without someone bringing it up. I don't want to know what he might do if another one of us were to die." Ryo said softly.

Benkei nodded. "At least that explains the gloom surrounding him right now…"

The two looked back towards the redhead running a few steps ahead of them, blue flames flickering wildly and almost ominously around him, a slight tint of darkness to them that was not normally present, but that reflected the sorrow in the redhead's mind in frightening fashion. Benkei and Ryo glanced back at each other, concern in both of their eyes at the pain of their comrade.

"There's another Arrangement system here." Gingka said. "I think we're in the normal hallways too."

"What makes you think that?" Benkei asked, blinking.

Gingka sweatdropped and pointed to a sign that was just slightly ahead. "I don't know about you, but 'Arrangement Rooms 10-19' is a pretty good indicator. Ziggurat wouldn't just label it for us, but he would label it for his employees."

"Good thinking. You're probably right." Ryo said, smiling at his son, while Benkei looked embarrassed at having not noticed the sign.

"Let's all try one and see if we can find anyone." Gingka said, stepping through a doorway after using Pegasus to blow it open.

"How long has Pegasus been spinning, exactly?" Benkei asked, noting that Gingka hadn't launched or caught Pegasus up again.

"Since before he met up with me and Tsubasa earlier… Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten tired just from the exertion of controlling it all this time." Ryo sighed. "It has to have been at least an hour, although I can't say for sure."

Benkei frowned. "Even for a bey as strong as Pegasus… That's pretty unusual, for an attack type. Even a stamina type would have trouble going that long."

Ryo nodded. "Fireblaze can't even last more than twenty minutes and it's a fairly strong stamina type, although admittedly not the strongest. Either way, we'd best get this done and get Gingka out of here to rest. He's nearly collapsed a couple of times and I'm getting worried."

"I don't think you have much to worry about. You're always here to protect him." Benkei pointed out.

"Yeah, but… What if I'm ever not…?" Ryo asked softly.

"Let's not worry about that." Benkei said, slipping into another room to see if there was anyone in there, while Ryo sighed and went into a third.

Gingka, in the meantime, found that the room he had stepped into was rather dark. He hesitated for a moment, feeling uncomfortable in this darkness, but soon enough, he managed to use Pegasus's power to light it up brilliantly.

"You really think you can win this, Gingka?"

Gingka narrowed his eyes at the figure he saw just across the room. "Ziggurat." He growled, anger beginning to fill him again at the sight of the mastermind behind the nightmare of a day he was having.

"Oh please, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"I wouldn't exactly call you a friend, especially not after what you've done here today."

"I'm not the one bloodstained here, Hagane." Ziggurat pointed out.

Gingka glanced down at his reddened clothing for an instant before looking back up and growling. "Even hands not literally stained with blood can be guilty of shedding it. And you are."

"Oh, please. I didn't kill her. You did." Ziggurat laughed.

"No. You tricked me. I would have never had killed her if I had known."

"But that's just it now, isn't it?" Ziggurat's voice took on a condescending tone. "You didn't know, and now you have killed one of your best friends, if not… Someone who could have been more than a friend. You were too weak, Hagane. Too blind. Too naive."

Gingka clenched one fist at his side, growling angrily. He was nearing the point of losing control, and would have, had Madoka's voice not entered his mind again, this time much clearer and louder than before.

"Gingka, stop! Calm down! Stop fighting!"

Gingka stumbled back as if he had been hit in the chest by some sort of invisible force. He fell hard to his knees, panting.

Ziggurat raised an eyebrow before stepping back into the shadows and disappearing, just as Ryo entered and ran to his son.

"Gingka, what's wrong?!" Ryo exclaimed worriedly, kneeling next to his son and putting his arms around him to steady his swaying.

Gingka only let out a silent whimper, squeezing his eyes shut, but this didn't help at all. He could hear yelling from many directions, voices he couldn't quite make out, as if they were muffled and shouting through something.

"Gingka?!" Ryo's frantic and worried voice snapped Gingka back to his senses, and he opened his eyes, panting slightly with a thin layer of sweat coating him as his headache and the voices left once again, hopefully never to return, but who knew?

"I… I'm okay…" He whispered, finding himself almost laying down, his head and shoulders supported only by Ryo's arms around him.

"No, son… No you're not." Ryo said firmly. "You haven't been okay this whole time and we are going to get you out of here, right now."

"But… The others…" Gingka said, trying to stand only to find himself feeling suddenly weak and barely able to even move.

"You don't have to do it all on your own, son. We're all here. Benkei and I found the Unbara brothers. I'm sure Tsubasa and Zero have found some of the others too, but you cannot stay here any longer." Ryo said firmly.

"But…" Gingka again tried to stand, but this time, Ryo pushed him back down firmly.

"Don't, Gingka. Please. Don't push yourself. I would rather die than see you do this to yourself any longer." Ryo said, sorrow in his eyes as he spoke.

Gingka hesitated, torn between wanting to keep fighting and wanting to listen to his father. He did have to admit that he was tired, but he had never given up before. He had always fought until the end no matter what it took, no matter what the matter what, he had to make sure the others were okay. With this thought in his mind, he firmly pushed away Ryo's hands and stood on his own, looking around for an instant before spotting Pegasus and calling the bey to his feet.

"Gingka…" Ryo muttered under his breath, wishing his son would listen. But Gingka did not, turning and striding out of the room to continue checking the other rooms in the building, original mission back on his mind and his encounter with Ziggurat already forgotten.

"We have to find them." Gingka muttered firmly under his breath, striding down the hallway. He heard the footsteps of Ryo and Benkei hurrying along behind him as he entered another Arrangement room, smirking as he spotted another figure laying inside the system.

"Ren!" Benkei exclaimed, as Gingka calmly smashed through the system with Pegasus, disabling it. Benkei went over and carefully lifted the unconscious girl, pulling electrodes off her forehead as he did so. Within seconds, Ren awoke with a faint groan, her eyes fluttering open and meeting Benkei's before she tried to sit up. Benkei helped her stand and steadied her until she had regained full consciousness.

"Where are we?!" Ren asked, looking frightened.

"On the Spiral Force. We were kidnapped by Ziggurat and brought here. We just got you out of an Arrangement." Benkei explained quickly.

"But… I thought we were all just sitting in the B-Pit watching Gingka and Zero play Twister." Ren said.

"Well I thought that I was competing to win a lifetime supply of burgers but both were just a dream." Benkei said.

"I wish this all was…" Gingka whispered.

Ryo and Benkei looked at the redhead sympathetically, while Ren paused and looked confused and slightly frightened at the sorrowful expression and blood on Gingka's face and body, respectively.

"What…?" She began to ask, but Benkei stopped her with a quick shake of his head.

"Don't ask." He said softly so that only she could hear him.

Ryo went over to steady Gingka, who looked as if he were about to fall to his knees again. The younger redhead had put a hand to his forehead and had his eyes closed, breathing deeply as his headache threatened to return again.

"Gingka, please. We need to get you out of here and find out what's wrong. You can't deny that something is." Ryo said softly, trying to nudge Gingka towards the door and what he assumed had to be an exit.

Gingka shook his head. "I can't. I can't rest until everyone is safe."

"But you don't have to make everyone safe, Gingka." Ryo said firmly, keeping one arm around his son's shoulders to steady them as they began to walk again, heading for the next room.

"I do...I failed one person already… I have to make the others safe..." Gingka said, clenching his teeth together as tears threatened to spill again.

Ryo quickly stepped in front of his son and put both arms tightly around him. Gingka grunted in surprise, having bumped into Ryo, his face buried slightly in the coat the older redhead was wearing. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"We need to keep going…" He said firmly, unable to focus on anything other than trying to stay active, stay moving, stay searching for the rest of his friends in an attempt to keep his mind off of the one he had lost.

"Gingka… Stop… Please." Ryo said, refusing to let go of his son.

"I can't…" Gingka whispered. "It hurts if I stop… So I can't…"

"I know, my son... But you have to. Please." Ryo said, tightening his hold on his boy.

Gingka shook his head and tried to push himself away from Ryo. "I can't." He repeated in a firmer tone.

"Madoka would want you to." Ryo said softly.

"Madoka would want me to not give up, to fight until the end." Gingka snapped. "I failed her. I can't fail the others too."

"Gingka…" Ryo said softly.

Gingka pulled himself out of Ryo's embrace. "You don't understand…" He whispered, beginning to continue down the hallway again. "I killed her…"

"Gingka…" Ryo chased after his son. "I lost your mother, remember?"

"No, actually, I don't, because you never told me anything." Gingka snapped again, hurt and anger shining in his young eyes as he glared at his father.

Ryo, surprised at this, paused in his steps for a moment. "I know I didn't. But I do know what it's like to lose someone who you loved like that."

"But you can't understand." Gingka continued, turning away and continuing to walk down the hall.

"Gingka, stop this." Ryo said, firmly, continuing to chase after his son, who had reached a door and gone through it, only to find himself outside, standing on some sort of landing platform that was on the underside of the Spiral Force.

"I can't." Gingka growled, looking around for some other sort of indicator as to where he should go next.

Ryo sighed and pulled out his phone, pressing a few buttons on it before putting it away. "Gingka, we need to go. Come on. Sit down here and rest a little bit. It's okay to cry."

Gingka shook his head, pressing one hand to it as a sharp pain pulsed into his head once more. "No…" He said faintly, closing his eyes as everything seemed to close in around him despite the fact that they were nearly in open air, a fresh breeze blowing through the area from the openings that allowed for helicopters to land and take off from the Spiral Force.

"Gingka. Please." Ryo said.

"Does what I want to do right now mean nothing?" Gingka asked through clenched teeth.

Ryo looked slightly taken aback by this. "That's not at all what I meant, son. But you are clearly not okay, and that's why we need to get you out of here."

"Of course I'm not okay. How could I be okay with this nightmare of a day?!" Gingka snapped angrily, Pegasus pulsating as if to punctuate his words.

"Gingka… Calm down." Ryo said, trying to approach his son, but the redhead only backed away, shaking his head.

"I'm not a child anymore, Dad… I can handle this."

"I know, Gingka. But you're my son. Please. Let me help you."

"I have to fight…" Gingka whispered, continuing to back away and dodge Ryo's attempts at reaching him.

"No, son. You don't." Ryo said, trying to catch his son. "Come on. Please. Come back to Koma, and we'll just hang out there together. You haven't been home in a long time. Please."

"We have to find the others." Gingka said firmly, continuing to back away.

"Tsubasa and Zero can do that. Benkei and Ren can help them. There are enough people to finish the job. You don't have to stay here." Ryo said.

Gingka shook his head, tears falling freely as he found himself unable to hinder them. "No… I have to stop this nightmare… I have to save them… That's my job… It's always been."

"Then let someone else do it for once, Gingka. You found Benkei and Ren. You got me and Tsubasa out of our trouble and you rescued Zero. Let the rest of us take it from here. You need to rest."

Gingka shook his head, trembling slightly.

"Gingka, please. I'm your father. Let me do my job. I won't be around forever. Let me do it while I can." Ryo pleaded, noting with slight worry that Gingka was just about to back off the edge of the platform.

"No…" Gingka whispered, hearing the sound of a helicopter approaching from the distance.

Ryo stopped walking forwards, realizing that Gingka had not yet noticed the ledge inches behind his feet. The redhead took one more step back, but his foot met only empty air. The younger redhead gasped sharply as he began to fall backwards.

In that instant, Ryo lunged forwards, all of his parental instincts taking hold at once. The wind picked up further from the helicopter that was approaching them from slightly below the platform. Ryo reached and managed to grab hold of the edge of Gingka's jacket, yanking the younger redhead back upwards and throwing him back atop the platform.

Gingka yelped, not really realizing what had happened before he found himself suddenly flung on his face, just inside the landing platform. He laid there for a moment, trembling and making sure that he really was on solid ground. The sound of the helicopter suddenly faltered before cutting out altogether. It grew deathly quiet, and Gingka slowly sat up, looking around and finding himself alone.

"...D-Dad?" He called, trembling violently and forgetting about his headache altogether as his mind became frantic. Where was Ryo? Gingka knew that his father should have been there, should have been right beside him- But he wasn't. A sickening feeling settled into Gingka's stomach, and he shakily crawled over to the edge of the platform, barely daring to look down, but look down he did- Just in time to see the helicopter that had been approaching plummet into the ocean, its blades badly damaged and not spinning, as Gingka was able to notice just before the machine hit the water and exploded with a dull, booming noise.

"No…" Gingka whispered, horrified. "No… Please no…" He stood, looking around frantically for any sign of his father, but he found none. There was no indication of where Ryo had gone except for the floating debris from the exploded helicopter below.

"Oh good, you're here too… Where's your dad?" Tsubasa's voice came from behind him, as the silver-haired man raced in with Zero and the others, Benkei and Ren included.

Gingka barely dared turn around, but he did, a look of utter shock and pain implanted on his face in a way that felt as if it would be permanent.

"H-he..." Gingka stammered, barely able to say what he had just realized to be true.

"He's dead…"

* * *

 **Ughh... Why why WHY do I do this to myself, anyway? I was literally shaking while writing that last part. It was sorta weird. Aaaaannnnyyyywwwwaaaaaaayyyyy, now that you all hate me... Again... Hehehe... Not sorry... Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	10. What is Happening?

**Gaaaah I'm a week later than I was supposed to be for this chapter buuut it's finished now so here it is! This is the part of the story where I'm between plot twists and am trying not to hit you guys with another major one too quickly, for the sake of building up suspense. T_T It's so hard sometimes though. Oh well! Enjoy the chapter! And the, erm, feels and drama too, if you dare.**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 105 (Hey I broke a hundred guys! Woot!)**

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Gingka felt numb. He felt as if the world were ending, which for him, it may as well have. Zero and the other younger bladers were standing off at a slight distance, trying to comfort Maru, who had been told of the death of Madoka. Tsubasa and Benkei were both seated next to Gingka, Tsubasa with an arm around the redhead's shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. Kite and Shinobu were keeping watch to ensure they weren't attacked by any HD Academy bladers.

An awkward silence reigned over them all, Zero glancing worriedly at Gingka every now and then as he hugged Maru, who was crying her eyes out into his shirt.

"Another helicopter will be here soon to pick us up…" Tsubasa muttered, getting off his phone with a sigh and looking back towards Gingka worriedly as the redhead made no response, no acknowledgment that his friends were even there. His bangs fell loosely over his face, hiding it and the tears streaming down it from view.

"It will be okay, Gingka…" Benkei said awkwardly, not knowing at all what to do in this situation but wanting to help.

Gingka merely shook his head, staring down at the water below as his legs dangled over the edge of the platform.

"Come on, let's get back from this edge." Tsubasa said worriedly, honestly wondering if Gingka were thinking of joining his father in the crashing waves and helicopter debris below. Considering how this day had gone, he wouldn't have been surprised if that were the idea on Gingka's mind, and it was.

Gingka just sat still, knowing he should listen to Tsubasa, but also wanting very much to jump.

"Come on, Gingka." Tsubasa said worriedly, trying to gently pull Gingka away from the ledge. Gingka refused to do any movement on his own, however, and soon, Benkei grabbed the redhead by the back of his shirt and lifted him into the air, pulling him forcibly away from the edge before setting him down behind Zero and the others.

Gingka grunted as he was lifted, debating for a moment whether or not to struggle, to stay at the place where his father had last been seen, but by the time he had made up his mind not to bother, he had been set down on the ground a short distance from where he had been sitting. His immediate instinct was to lay down and curl up into a ball, which was precisely what he did, trying desperately not to sink into a state of utter despair.

"Gingka… Come on, snap out of it." Tsubasa said worriedly, putting a hand on Gingka's shoulder once again and shaking him slightly.

"I failed…" Gingka muttered in an emotionless tone.

"No, no you haven't." Tsubasa said in a gentle tone, really not sure what to do with a moody Gingka. He hadn't thought it even possible for the redhead to be this upset, yet here he was.

"I could have prevented this… All of it..." Gingka whispered.

"You did your best, Gingka. You can't blame yourself like this, come on."

"I should be the one dead, not my dad." Gingka growled, beginning to become angry on top of the sorrow he was already feeling. "And not Madoka…"

"You didn't know, Gingka. You didn't know." Tsubasa said, trying to comfort Gingka and looking helplessly to Benkei for assistance, but the purple-haired man looked just as bewildered by the state of their friend.

"The helicopter's here." Kite called from near the ledge, where he had been watching for the machine to come pick them up.

"Come on, Gingka. We're gonna get you to a place where you can rest." Tsubasa said firmly, tugging at Gingka's arm.

"I don't care…" Gingka muttered, refusing to move.

"Bull! Shut up and just get in the helicopter because we care about you, ya idiot! We're gonna help, so quit your moping around and it'll all be fine!" Benkei exclaimed at last, causing everyone around to jump slightly in surprise at the sudden volume.

Gingka released a heavy sigh and shakily stood, still hanging his head slightly and refusing to look at anyone. The helicopter soon flew into the landing bay they had all been waiting in for the past hour and landed, its blades slowing and soon stopping while they headed for it, Benkei and Tsubasa guiding Gingka inside and to a seat.

"Pegasus…" Gingka breathed out a barely audible call, holding his hand out with his palm facing upwards. The silver and blue bey leapt into his hand and spun there, much to the surprise of those watching, who had nearly forgotten about the bey.

Tsubasa noted with some relief that Pegasus's rotation seemed to be providing at least some sort of comfort, although he wondered whether or not Gingka had relaunched since before they had met up. The fact that Pegasus had remained in a steady spin this entire time was surprising, but Tsubasa attributed it to the fact that Gingka had likely grown stronger, and that the extent of his full power was practically unknown to them all. Considering that, who knew how long Pegasus could spin now without slowing? Evidently it was for quite some time, yet still… Hours on end should be impossible even for a stamina type to attain.

Tsubasa sighed and decided not to concern himself further with the issue. Right now, what mattered most was making sure that Gingka was alright, whatever that meant. Of course, that assumed that Gingka could ever be himself again. After losing the two people closest to him in one day, who knew? Only time would tell.

"Gingka, you need to rest." Benkei said softly, putting his hand on the redhead's shoulder.

Gingka shook his head slightly, not wanting to sit still at all, but he couldn't do much else in the helicopter.

"You will not escape for long." Ziggurat's voice followed them as their helicopter left.

Gingka looked up slightly, his eyes flashing in an angry way that nobody had ever seen before, save for Benkei, and even he had only seen it once. It terrified and awed the others in the helicopter, as they stared in shock at the redhead for a moment, fear turning quickly to concern as Gingka put a hand to his head, closing his eyes and nearly falling forwards out of his seat as another headache pulsated into his head.

Gingka swayed, feeling sick to his stomach with all that he had seen that day, all that he had done. His head would not stop pulsating painfully, two points on his forehead, just above his eyes, giving him the most trouble. He barely felt Benkei and Tsubasa's arms slip around his shoulders to steady him as the helicopter took them back to Metal Bey City. Pegasus dropped out of his hand and to the ground as he raised both hands and gripped his head, trying not to break down in front of the others.

"We're getting you straight to bed and calling a doctor, Gingka." Tsubasa said firmly, gently pushing Gingka back so that he was leaning against the back of his seat.

Gingka nodded faintly, trying to stay calm. He focused on Pegasus, the bey glowing faintly as it spun on the ground at his feet. Throughout the rest of the helicopter ride, the bey's glow never wavered, even as the confidence of its master did.

Gingka felt as if he were still in the heat of battle, only now he was battling his emotions. He did not want to cry in front of anyone. He had done enough of that today. He wished greatly now that he had paid more attention to his surroundings. Had he not backed up to that ledge, his father would still be alive. Had he listened to Zero's warning, Madoka would be in his arms and alive, not lying somewhere within the maze of Hades City, dead.

"Gingka, stop fighting…"

Gingka let out a low growl as he heard Madoka's voice again, only now it seemed to be taunting him. The sound of an alarm broke through his thoughts, as his eyes and all others snapped to the front of the helicopter.

"What's going on?!" Tsubasa demanded.

"Hades City sir! It's fired a missile at us!"

Gingka shot to his feet. "Open the helicopter door, now! Any door!"

"Gingka, what-" Tsubasa looked confused.

"I have to get Pegasus outside the helicopter now someone open a door!" Gingka snapped.

"Benkei?" Tsubasa turned, but Benkei had already thrown open the side door.

"Hurry, Mr. Hagane! It's closing fast!" The pilot called.

Gingka closed his eyes and focused. Pegasus shot across the floor and out the door, spreading its wings and flying straight at the missile without a second thought.

"But if Pegasus hits that missile it could be destroyed in the explosion!" Maru exclaimed.

Gingka grit his teeth, hearing the echoes of Madoka's usual warnings in Maru's words.

"But then you guys won't." Gingka growled, having already made his decision. Despite the fact that he did not really want to live, he also did not want anyone else to die if he could prevent it. Gingka was determined that nobody else should be lost to a mistake made by him, whether through manipulation by Ziggurat or not. Pegasus would not be destroyed either. Of that Gingka was certain. The bey had survived this long, and Gingka was not about to let his partner be destroyed either.

"Pegasus!" Gingka shouted, gripping one of the bars on the inside of the helicopter as he leaned out the door. Benkei stood nearby just in case Gingka lost his grip, ready to prevent the redhead from falling.

"Any time now, Mr. Hagane!" The pilot called, sounding frightened.

"Pegasus!" Gingka called, and Pegasus abruptly landed on the missile, spinning smoothly up the shaft of it before leaping off the tail end and into the air.

"You missed?!" Benkei exclaimed.

"I don't miss. Pegasus, now! Stardust Driver!" Gingka said, and Pegasus immediately came shooting back down in a flash of blue light, stamping the nose of the missile straight down and towards the ocean. In the next instant, the water below them exploded, shooting droplets high into the air. Benkei grabbed the back of Gingka's jacket and scarf and pulled him back inside as he swayed and nearly fell, putting a hand to his head.

Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief as Benkei guided Gingka back into his seat, while Tsubasa closed the doors behind Pegasus as the bey leapt back in. The pilots cheered and continued flying the helicopter, soon landing back at the WBBA headquarters.

"Rest, Gingka." Tsubasa ordered firmly as he and Benkei guided the dazed redhead onto a couch in Tsubasa's office.

"But…" Gingka muttered in protest.

"We'll keep an eye out and tell you if Ziggurat attacks again, but you are not okay. Rest." Tsubasa said.

"I need to change…" Gingka sweatdropped slightly.

"I'll go to the B-Pit and get you a change of clothing, Gingka." Benkei said. "Until then, don't you dare move, ya hear me?"

"Alright…" Gingka muttered, relaxing at last as Pegasus circled the couch steadily.

"You should really let Pegasus rest too." Tsubasa said.

Gingka turned and looked down at the bey, then sighed and shrugged. "It sorta helps to have it spinning…"

"If you say so." Tsubasa sighed and went to his desk.

Gingka rolled over, his face to the back of the couch, and closed his eyes.

Within moments, the redhead found himself standing in the familiar comfort of a starry landscape. He smiled at this, looking around at the brilliant sparks of color that surrounded him. A faint whinny from his left caused him to turn, swiveling smoothly to look for the source that he knew was there. However, what he saw shocked him to no small extent.

"Pegasus?" Gingka blinked, staring. The winged horse was indeed there, but its wings were pinned down by an unseen force, keeping it from flying. It was striking at invisible foes with all four hooves, as if fighting an invisible battle that Gingka could not see.

"Pegasus, what's wrong?!" Gingka said, beginning to run towards the horse, but he found that he was unable to move forwards at all. It was as if he were being held back by some invisible force.

Gingka's mind fell into complete turmoil at this, panic flooding him entirely. He struggled, long and hard, against the invisible bonds. In a way, the feeling was similar to what he had experienced at the DNA, but this was no electromagnetic field holding him down. It was something Gingka could not quite describe or place. All he knew was that it was hurting him. No… It was weakening him. Not only that… It was weakening Pegasus itself.

It was at this realization that the voices began, but now, it was not only Madoka's voice that called to him, as it had been when he was awake, oh no. It was the voices of every last one of his friends, screaming his name out in a panicked fashion.

"Gingka!"

The redhead gasped and panted, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around himself, his breathing becoming labored. His breath echoed in his own ears, loudly and frantically. Something in the back of his mind told him he needed to calm down, to collect his thoughts.

"Stop!"

Stop what? Gingka was not even sure what was happening anymore, all he knew was that he wanted it to stop. He was just sitting there, seemingly helpless to stop whatever was happening. He had already been helpless to stop what had happened.

"Stop it!"

Gingka found his own voice echoing with those of his friends and allies. It was with this that the realization that he was losing the battle struck him. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness followed this, but Gingka had never been one to give up, especially not when told to do so.

"Stop fighting!"

Gingka growled and stood, fell, then stood again as his and Pegasus's power pulsated, the winged horse rearing up onto its hind legs and lashing straight forwards with its hooves.

"Gingka!"

The next thing Gingka knew, he was falling again. Something grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him, firmly.

"Gingka, wake up!"

Gingka jerked awake with a sharp gasp, sitting up rapidly. He blinked twice, noting that he was back on the couch in Tsubasa's office. Tsubasa had both of his hands on Gingka's shoulders and was shaking him.

"M'awake, m'awake…" Gingka muttered, not quite sure what had just happened, but glad that it was over.

"You were yelling in your sleep." Tsubasa informed him. "What happened?"

"... I'm not sure. A nightmare, I think." Gingka muttered, looking down at his bey and narrowing his eyes as it spun steadily atop the coffee table, motionless in one place, as if waiting for something.

"Are you alright?" Tsubasa asked, worry in his tone.

Gingka bit his lip slightly, unsure whether or not to say what was on his mind.

"Tsubasa…" He said softly at last. "I… Think Ziggurat did something to me…"

* * *

 **Taadaa. Enjoy the suspense. Question is, is Gingka correct in his guess, or is he just losing his mind out of grief? ^w^ I'll let you all ponder that. That is for me to know and for you to find out. Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	11. Unleashed

**PLOT TWIST BOMB, DIVE FOR COVER! -dives into pillow fort- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

 **Ahem. Hello again everyone! I bet you thought that Madoka and Ryo's deaths were bad, huh? Well, they were. But this chapter begins my REAL main plot twist. The previous chapters will have been nothing in suspense compared to what I am dropping on you today. Since we have now reached this point, there isn't really any foreshadowing... Well, there's two pieces but one's been going on for several chapters and the other is also something I have mentioned before. But, since I count re-mentions as foreshadowing points, that puts our foreshadowing count to... 107! This will likely be the last chapter I mention foreshadowing counts in, but the next chapter may still have some as well. (Because yes I'm not done with you all yet even after all I have done so far.) Also, there is a song that goes with this chapter, and said song is the source of the chapter's title! The song is Unleashed by Within Temptation, if you care to look it up and listen to it while reading this. Aaanyyywaaaayyy... Enjoy, if you dare! -sits in Evil Authoress Chair-**

* * *

Less than an hour after Gingka's sudden declaration that Ziggurat must have done something to him, he was at the hospital. Tsubasa stood in a waiting room, watching through a window as Gingka explained what was going on to one of the doctors. The redhead was clearly still in pain, as he pressed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, something which seemed to greatly concern the doctor.

Tsubasa entered at the doctor motioned to him to do so.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" the silver-haired blader asked quietly.

"Has he hit his head recently?"

"... Yeah, but a couple of days ago. He was unconscious until just this morning." Tsubasa said.

"I don't think this is anything more than a very bad concussion, and from what he told me he hasn't been resting since he woke up." The doctor said. "He should simply need rest for this to go away."

"It's not that… I know it's not…" Gingka grunted irritably.

"Just lie down, Gingka. We'll figure this out." Tsubasa said, putting a firm hand on the redhead's shoulder and making him lie down on the bed he was seated on.

"Is hearing voices a symptom of a concussion?" Gingka asked pointedly as he looked up at Tsubasa and the doctor, both of whom were raising an eyebrow at him.

"What sort of voices?" The doctor asked slowly.

"My friends… Even my dad… Just yelling at me." Gingka muttered. "I can hear them right now."

"... Hallucination?" Tsubasa blinked, glancing at the doctor.

"Ziggurat's a neuroscientist, remember?" Gingka said, crossing his arms. "I'm sure he could do something."

"Perhaps some sort of drug. We can test for that." The doctor said.

"But for this long afterwards?" Tsubasa said. "Wouldn't anything like that have worn off by now?"

"Perhaps. But we can still test. Another possibility, from what I have heard of this Doctor Ziggurat you refer to, is some sort of implant."

"Wouldn't that require surgery that we'd likely have found out about by now?" Tsubasa asked.

"Not necessarily. It would depend on what." The doctor sighed. "I'll have a group set up a scan to see if there's anything affecting his brain directly, and in the meantime I'll start on testing his blood for anything that shouldn't be there."

"Alright." Tsubasa nodded, then turned to Gingka. "Gingka did yo-" He froze and blinked, then facepalmed.

"... Where did he go?" The doctor asked, looking around the bed in confusion.

"I think we scared him off with talk of testing and surgery…" Tsubasa groaned.

"We'd better find him. If something is wrong like what you and he are suggesting, then he could be in danger of permanent damage." The doctor said, leading the way out of the room to find the redhead.

Gingka, in the meantime, was running. His feet pounded against the tile floors of the hallways that twisted and turned throughout the hospital, pounding in sync with his head. Something in the back of his mind tried to tell him that this was not a good idea, but he ignored it, just as he was ignoring all of the other voices that were screaming at him in his head.

Something drew Gingka onwards, and it was not only because of the dislike of medical tests and brain scans, or even potentially surgery that was causing him to continue to run. Gingka wasn't even sure if it was the intense desire in his mind to just be left alone to grieve for a while. He followed Pegasus as the bey darted ahead of him… Or was he directing its path?

Gingka wasn't sure who was following who's lead at this point, as he and Pegasus had always had more of a partnership than anything else. So, he kept running just behind the silver and blue bey, listening to its cries in the back of his mind as the nightmare he had experienced just over an hour ago replayed itself in his mind in reality.

Soon enough, Gingka found himself on the roof of the hospital. He paused for a moment, confused, as he could have sworn he had been heading down and not up. But he shrugged this off and looked around. The Spiral Force was still visible in the distance, although it appeared to be moving slightly closer and ignoring the explosions on its underside from the firepower of what Gingka assumed were tanks trying to keep it far away from Metal Bey City. Yet the flying city remained seemingly undamaged.

Gingka narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right. The city definitely looked different than before… Probably the fact that the tall tower in the center was beginning to flash with electricity, not to mention the bottom engines glowing with power.

Gingka's eyes widened as he recognized the sight: Spiral Force was fully charged. And it was heading right for Metal Bey City. And the Japanese army did not seem to be having much success in stopping it either. Ziggurat was attacking the city now that he had the power he needed, and Gingka feared that he and his friends had been the ones to supply that power.

Gingka growled angrily under his breath, trying to ignore his pounding headache as he leapt against the side of another building, sliding down a fire escape before taking off towards the approaching threat, Pegasus spinning along beside but barely able to keep up with its master anymore as it was further weakened by the long hours of spinning- if it were even only that and not whatever power Ziggurat may have drained from it. His phone began ringing demandingly in his pocket and Gingka glanced at the screen before answering.

"Tsubasa. Ziggurat's attacking the city. The army can't stop a full-power Spiral Force from destroying everything." He said before the silver-haired man could get a word in otherwise.

"... You need to be careful, Gingka." Tsubasa said worriedly.

"There's no time for careful!" Gingka snapped, leaping over a few trashcans and continuing to run despite the pounding of his head, which was only growing more intense with each passing second and threatening to cause him to black out. Gingka could already see sparks dancing in his vision as he kept running, but he did not stop. He didn't care much what happened to him. He never really had entirely, and if he had, he had pushed that aside to stop the threat.

"Just.. Tell the others to be ready and to get out of range." Gingka said.

"We're coming to help. You're not going alone, especially not with a concussion." Tsubasa said.

"But-"Gingka began to protest.

"No buts, Gingka. For one thing, since when have we ever let you have all the fun, and for another, we're all worried about you considering what's happened. We're coming. Don't start the party without us." Tsubasa said before hanging up.

Gingka put away his phone and rolled his eyes, allowing the faintest smile of amusement to creep onto his face. He did not want the others to get hurt, not at all, but he was glad that they wanted to help him rather than abandon him right now. Still, Gingka would have preferred it if he were the only one in danger. But if the others were going to come, then it could not be helped. He only hoped that their deciding to come join in the battle would not cause him to lose them as well, as had happened with his father.

It was in that moment that an idea entered Gingka's mind. He glanced down at Pegasus as he and it both stopped racing ahead, a mutual understanding seeming to pass between the two.

"This may take more power than a battle with Kyoya does, Pegasus…" Gingka said softly. "But we have to try, or else…"

Gingka left this sentence unfinished as he turned and gazed at Spiral Force with an almost deathly calm expression. He had an idea. Perhaps it was one that was crazier than his eyebrows, as Zero had said earlier. Gingka only wondered if he had the capacity to sustain the power he was about to unleash for the amount of time he needed to unleash it. He also wondered if this would even work, but there was only one way to find that out.

Gingka ran to the docks, which by now were quite close. He scrambled atop a building and could soon see the line of tanks trying to take down or at least deter the looming city that was threatening to destroy them all with a single blast. But if Gingka had anything to say about it, that would never happen.

"Alright Pegasus… Let's do this." Gingka said as the bey spun a few feet in front of him, teetering right on the edge of the roof that Gingka was standing on.

Several of the soldiers below looked up and behind them in surprise at the sound of a loud yell. They blinked in surprise at the sight of the blader standing behind them, then shrugged and kept firing, glad for the extra help.

Gingka planted his feet wide apart, eyes blazing brilliantly with his own firey power. Pegasus leapt high into the air in an instant, leaving behind a shockwave that rippled through the air and left a large dent in the roof of the building Gingka was standing on, although the redhead was somehow unaffected as bright blue flames danced wildly around him, expanding until they engulfed him fully andnearly hid him from sight before shooting into the sky and connecting with Pegasus.

"Alright… Now time to take out at least something." Gingka growled. "Pegasus, Stardust Driver!"

Almost before Gingka had finished calling out the name of his special move, Pegasus had struck the floating city, blazing a rather large hole through the main tower.

"Focus your fire on the hole he created! It's vulnerable!" The general in charge of the troops on the ground yelled as he saw the resulting explosions from Pegasus's attacks.

"Pegasus, run now!" Gingka yelled, as a ring of flames shot up high from the water below the Spiral Force, widening until its circumference was larger than that of the floating city. Upon Gingka's command, the flames shot higher, rising to levels even above the altitude of the city itself until there was an enormous wall of flame and water engulfing the Spiral Force, as if trying to simultaneously burn and flood the city, which at this point Gingka would not have minded doing.

"Pegasus… Storm Bringer!" Gingka called at last, the wall of flames pulsating and glowing brilliantly. It took Gingka a moment to realize that he was not the one who had caused this pulse, and he was only causing part of the glow. The rest… Was Spiral Force beginning to fire despite Gingka's attempt to stop it.

Gingka shook his head to clear his vision, which by now was definitely beginning to darken, whether because of whatever injury he had sustained, or whether because of the exhaustion from the amounts of power he was exerting, Gingka did not know and frankly, he did not care either. All the redhead knew was that he had to-and would- stay awake until this job was finished. Even if this were to be his last battle before sinking into unconsciousness permanently, Gingka would win. And this time, he would ensure that Spiral Force could never come back.

Just then, everything happened at once, yet simultaneously in slow motion. Gingka saw it begin, saw the enormous structure that was shrouded in his wall of flame and water begin to implode. The outer edges crumpled inwards first, as if a black hole in the center of the struture were pulling them inwards. The tall tower that had been standing proud in the center mere moments earlier shot straight down, just at the bottom of the entire structure shot upwards. Ear-splitting screeching sounds of metal scraping against metal came as the city practically turned itself into a pancake before rapidly combusting and shrinking in size.

Gingka blinked in surprise at this before freezing as the crumpled city began expanding again rapidly. His eyes widened as the exploding Spiral Force ripped all too easily through his own wall, the last thing he had been counting on to protect the city and its inhabitants. The wall of water that had been surrounding the city to block it now became a weapon of the explosion, and it was all Gingka could do to even try to stop the wall of water that had soon flooded the entire city, sweeping Gingka and the army up with it before slamming them all down against the buildings.

Gingka panicked as he found himself underwater, unable to breathe. His headache further exploded in his head as water entered his lungs, causing quite the unpleasant burning sensation in his lungs. It took Gingka a few moments to realize that the water itself was hot. He would have dared to say that it was boiling, pulsating from the heat that the implosion and sequential explosion of the Spiral Force had released.

Gingka once again heard the voices of his friends yelling at him as he struggled to stay conscious, trying to even figure out precisely which way was up. If he could only figure that out, perhaps he could swim that way and find the air that his lungs were desperately pleading for now. But the only thing Gingka could feel was a sickening sensation of being pinned down. His own heartbeat pounded in his ears, speeding. Gingka could tell that it was getting faster by the second.

The last thing Gingka knew before blackness consumed him was the sound of the voices of all of his friends, screaming his name endlessly.

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 **Soooo... -spins around in Evil Authoress Chair- This cliffhanger is the beginning of my main plot twist... As you can probably see... So until next time, Galaxy out! -dives into pillow fort to escape probably angry hoard of readers-**


	12. More Than it Seems

**Beware. This chapter is rather intense. And shorter than previous chapters, but that is because I didn't have a ton of plotline to work with. I merely had what is going on inside Gingka's mind between him basically drowning in the last chapter and what happens at the end of this one. (Which, since I'm not gonna tell you here, you'll have to read to find out!) You will probably want tissues. Also, if you're playing the "Spot the foreshadowing" game, this is the final chapter, because next week it will ALL be revealed! Yep! Even though my main plot twist technically started at the end of the last chapter, and even more so at the end of this chapter, we will have finally reached the biggest plot twist of the entire story. (Because yeah, Madoka and Ryo's deaths weren't big enough.) -cue maniacal authoress cackling- Anyway, enjoy! (If you DARE.)**

 **Total foreshadowing count: 113**

 **Also, this chapter is titled "More Than it Seems" after the song of the same name that is also part of this story's title. ^w^**

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All he knew was that everything seemed to be burning. Heart, lungs, head, limbs. All of him seemed to be on fire. Whether this was from the scalding water Gingka knew subconsciously that he must still be in, or from the fact that said water was probably killing him, or from something else, Gingka knew not. All he knew was that it hurt.

Gingka opened his eyes slowly, only to be greeted with blackness. He could not tell what position he was in. Was he alive? Was he dead? These questions ran repeatedly through his mind. Laughing seemed to echo from everywhere around him, crazed and maniacal in its tones.

Gingka looked around in an attempt to pinpoint the source of this laughter, as it was unsettling. However, he could find nothing, could see nothing, hear nothing but the cursed sound. After a while of straining his ears for it, Gingka could no longer hear the laughter. Instead, he heard voices.

"You cannot win. None of you can."

Ziggurat's voice, if Gingka's fogged memory was correct. He honestly wasn't sure. Was the scientist floating somewhere near him? But no, Gingka was underwater. Which meant that even if Ziggurat were near him, he should not be able to hear distinct words. Plus, the neuroscientist had probably died a fiery death when the city he had created imploded.

Gingka narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the further words he could hear, but these were all now muffled, as if he were in fact hearing them through something, such as water or glass. Gingka let out a faint groan, deciding that he actually did not care whether or not Ziggurat was nearby. Not when everything was still burning and pulsating with pain that threatened to cause him to go insane just from the intensity of it.

"Gingka, please, hang in there!" A frightened-sounding voice broke into his thoughts. Much to Gingka's partial horror, it took him several seconds to realize that it was Madoka's voice. Was the brunette calling to him from the afterlife and telling him not to come join her? Gingka honestly wanted to… And Madoka sounded quite close. Just how close to death was he, if he could hear her this well? Gingka was not sure whether he should be frightened or comforted by this thought.

Another groan escaped Gingka's body, as he squeezed his eyes shut and trembled, hating every second of this, of whatever was happening to him. A third voice entered his mind, but this one was not human. Gingka narrowed his eyes, noting that this voice was not one he had to think about to place.

"Master, please… Stop fighting."

Gingka's breath- if he were actually breathing- caught in his throat at this. Sure, he had 'heard' Pegasus before but never this clearly. It had always been more of an idea that had come into his head. Gingka decided to attribute this to the fact that he was unconscious, or at least he thought he was. Considering that he could still feel what he was sure was heat from the water that he knew was surrounding him, he must be conscious, right? He should not have been able to feel anything if he were unconscious, right? Gingka suddenly was not sure.

The larger question in Gingka's mind, however, was that of why even Pegasus, his longtime partner, was telling him to stop fighting. What did Pegasus know that Gingka did not? Gingka frowned, wondering what fight the bey was even referring to. As far as he could tell, the fight against Hades City was over, considering that it had exploded and caused a tsunami that may or may not have been partially Gingka's fault.

Gingka froze at this thought. If he had not damaged Hades City like he had, had not tried to contain it within a wall of water, would the tsunami have happened? Undoubtedly, had he not stopped the city, it would have leveled Metal Bey City within a few more minutes. Gingka was sure that that had been Ziggurat's intent. But had Gingka, in attempting to stop Ziggurat's attack, inadvertently caused the destruction of the city himself, thereby doing Ziggurat's job for him?

A potential headline flashed across Gingka's mind: "Legendary Blader Causes Destruction of City." Was that how Gingka would be known in the end, after all he had done to save not only Metal Bey City, but the world? Would his last action cause him to be known as a destroyer rather than a savior? The thought nearly caused Gingka to panic, which definitely did not help the pain he was already in.

How long had he been underwater now? Gingka only hoped that it was not long enough to kill him. He had to get out, had to make amends for what he may or may not have caused. Madoka's death was bad enough. His father's accidental death was even worse, as Gingka was fairly sure that both had been mostly, if not entirely, his fault. He did not want his last day of life to be filled with tragedy. That was not the way he-or any of his friends, he was sure- had envisioned him going down.

A cry of anguish tore from Gingka's throat, as his body arched. He could hear his heart speeding in his ears. The rapid pulsing only added to his fear, as he knew that that rapid of a beat could not be sustained for long, especially not with how much it was speeding up. Gingka may not have known much about how hearts worked, but he did know that said organ could only beat so fast before failing altogether. Whether or not he was past that rate, he did not know. All he knew was that it hurt. It hurt more than he had thought was even possible, and that definitely was not helping his fear or his physical condition.

Had he been impaled on some swirling piece of debris as he floated in the water? Gingka dearly hoped that was not the case. He was likely already done for, but he hoped with what little bit of hope he had left that he could be saved. However, if he had been pierced, then anyone who even tried to rescue him would have to deal with drowning and the injury, not to mention blood loss.

But who would even save him? The entire city had been destroyed. Gingka realized with a touch of horror that his friends, although he dearly hoped that they had escaped in time, were probably all dead by now. Would anyone even think about coming to find him?

The faintest of whimpers escaped Gingka's lips at this thought. He was not sure if he could actually bear this anymore, not with that thought entering his mind. He immediately pushed it away, not wanting to think about it. But, as he pushed it out, another overwhelming feeling came in.

Gingka began to struggle against this one, the overwhelming feeling of being held down, grabbed by something he could not see. Honestly, Gingka wasn't sure whether he wanted to know what it was that was holding him down and putting pressure on his limbs, torso, and hips. He felt chained down, a feeling which was of course never pleasant.

Gingka panted breathlessly, not sure whether or not he was actually breathing. He wasn't even entirely sure his heart was still beating. Was he even alive anymore? If pain were an indicator, he would say that he was, but what if the afterlife hurt? What if he was stuck like this forever for killing Madoka and indirectly causing his father's death?

Gingka let out another faint, weakened whimper. He hated this feeling that was consuming him now, the feeling of being nothing more than a helpless, frightened child. He hadn't felt this way in an extremely long time, not since that night his father had supposedly died and he had been left supposedly orphaned, forced to face and take down L-Drago alone. However, that time had been much different.

Then, he had been given a clear mission, and he had the help of both the other inhabitants of Koma Village to start him on his journey, and the help of the friends he met along the way to finish it. This time, it seemed that he had nobody except for the voices in his head that kept screaming his name, the voices of friends who he was sure were all dead by now.

"Please… Someone.. Help…" Gingka whimpered as he sank deeper and deeper into whatever state of either unconsciousness or death he was in.

The voices began to sound further away, getting more and more frantic. Gingka tried to focus on them, desperate to feel as if there were someone there with him. He knew now that he was slipping, losing his grip on all that he had known. His heartbeat was growing fainter and fainter in his head, as pain was replaced by a sort of numb lightheadedness.

Gingka squinted, trying to peer through the darkness that surrounded him, although he was not sure why. Why should he look for something when there was nothing to see? At this thought, he closed his eyes and finally ceased fighting, a shudder running through him as he ceased hearing his heartbeat altogether, one last brief flash of pain consuming him.

The next thing Gingka knew, he was feeling very warm, however, this was not the burning feeling of hot water that he had felt what seemed like an instant before. This warmth was much more comfortable. Gingka could not quite tell what position he was in, assuming he was really in any position. He was dead now, right? Did that mean he was some formless being now? Gingka did not know, and he really did not care either. All he knew was that the pain had ceased and that he was feeling almost overwhelmingly comfortable and safe.

Gingka chose to focus on the feeling of safety, one which was bringing great relief to his previously tormented mind. If this was what being dead actually felt like, he did not mind it so much. It was the best thing he could have hoped for, considering how hectic, no, nightmarish his last day had been.

"G-Gingka…?"

A familiar voice made itself known to Gingka's ears, as he suddenly realized that the source of the warm, safe feeling was coming from what felt like a pair of arms wrapped around him, supporting his body (as he apparently did still have one after all) with great care.

Gingka barely dared open his eyes as a soft breath escaped him, but once he did, he managed to crack a faint smile, squinting slightly as his eyes tried to adjust to the extremely bright light shining down onto his face.

"D...Dad…?"

* * *

 **Yesh. Yesh I have done it muahaha. I am quite pleased with how this chapter turned out. Aaanywaaay... Galaxy out, until next time!**


	13. The Reality Within a Dream

**Warning! This chapter may be slightly confusing at first but I promise that the initial confusion is explained by the end! You may want to reread chapter 11 and refresh your memory on the events of that chapter, but you don't have to do so. -cue maniacal giggling- I have been waiting forever to reveal this chapter's events. Enjoy! (Oh, and this is the second to last chapter!)**

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"There he is!" Ryo exclaimed, spotting his son laying inside the Arrangement system, his wrists chained down to it with the usual clamps around his head, shoulders, ribs, elbows, hips, and knees.

Wires were connected to the redhead's forehead at two points, just above his eyebrows. Gingka was shifting slightly, about as much as the shackles around his wrists would allow him to. The younger redhead's eyebrows were furrowed, whether in concentration or pain Ryo could not tell. Perhaps it was both.

"We have to get him out." Tsubasa said.

"On it. There has to be a computer port here somewhere." Madoka said, snatching Maru's laptop and running around to the other side, kneeling just above Gingka's head and putting one hand on the glass above his head for a moment before connecting the computer and beginning to type.

"You saved us so many times.. Now we save you again." Madoka muttered, beginning to hack the system. Little did she know that, by hacking, she was causing the implosion of the Spiral Force in Gingka's mind, as she tried to free him from its control.

The others stood guard around Gingka, their beys still clashing with his in the stadium that was just on the other side of a wall they had broken through when Pegasus went berserk for an instant. Gingka had thought he was smashing through the Spiral Force. As a matter of fact, he had been, but only through the single wall separating himself from his friends. Now, they fought to finish the battle against Pegasus, which had initiated Storm Bringer and was engulfing the stadium in high flames.

"Attack it, Ifrit! We have to stop that charge!" Zero called, panting heavily and getting back to his feet.

"Phoenix!"

"Eagle!"

"Bull!"

"Salamander!

"Leviathan!"

"Orochi!"

"Fireblaze!" Ryo called, snapping his attention back to the battle as all of their beys charged the powerful silver and blue one that they had not yet been able to defeat, no matter how many times they relaunched. Maru had reported a moment ago that Pegasus had weakened, but now it seemed to have strengthened once more, if the flames were any indicator.

"One last push! Use your special moves!" Ryo called.

"Don't let him contain your power everyone!" Tsubasa said. "We have to send Pegasus flying."

"Leviathan, Sea Beast Crush!" Kite called.

"Orochi, follow it!" Eight called, as Gingka's wall of flames was filled with water.

"Let's do this then. Ifrit!" Zero called. "Burning Uppercut!"

"Fireblaze, Burning Fire Strike!"

"Eagle, Shining Tornado Buster!"

"Bull Uppercut!"

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!"

A fire ignited and exploded within the water, shattering right through Gingka's Storm Bringer and causing a heatwave of a tsunami that washed over them all, sending bladers and beys flying. The only one who remained unaffected was Gingka, or so it seemed. As Pegasus flew and became embedded in the wall high above them, Gingka arched slightly and let out a weak, choked-sounding cry.

"G-Gingka?!" Madoka yelped.

The others got up and ran over, collecting their beys. Zero used Ifrit to knock Pegasus out of its position embedded in the wall. Ryo picked up the silver and blue bey and pocketed it before rushing over worriedly to where his son lay. Gingka was struggling against the bonds that held him, his face contorted and mouth parted.

"He can't breathe!" Madoka cried as she typed faster than she had thought was possible, trying to relieve whatever was distressing Gingka, but the only way she knew to do this was to turn it off.

"You can't win." Ziggurat's voice cackled from above them. It took Zero approximately two seconds to relaunch and bring the platform their enemy stood on crashing down, knocking Ziggurat unconscious. Benkei tied the man up with his own tie before returning and simply watching as Madoka worked.

"Come on Gingka, please…" Madoka whispered as she typed. "Just keep breathing…"

"It's killing him somehow…" Tsubasa whispered, horrified.

Ryo punched the glass that was separating him from his son, causing the others to jump and look at him. The older redhead glared angrily at the glass, and for a while the only sound in the room was Madoka's typing, save the occasional whimper of agony from the trapped redhead. The blue light inside the Arrangement system flashed red, indicating that Gingka's vitals were now in a critical state.

"Gingka!" The entire group cried out at once, frightened that by saving their friend they were going to inadvertently kill him.

"Please…" Ryo whispered, staring helplessly. "Please hang in there…"

Madoka bit her lip and typed even faster as Gingka's struggling grew weaker, the blader weakening as the seconds ticked slowly on.

"I'm almost there…" She whispered.

"Good… He can't take much more of this before…" Tsubasa trailed off.

"I-I know." Madoka muttered, narrowing her eyes in determination. Her fingers were flying almost as fast as Gingka's racing heart. She let out a cry of triumph as the lights all turned off, Gingka ceasing to struggle and laying still as the clamps and shackles holding him down released. Ryo wasted absolutely no time in yanking the wires off of Gingka's head and scooping the younger up into his arms, sitting on the ground and holding him tightly. The older pressed a shaking hand to Gingka's neck, feeling with two fingers for his pulse.

"He's still here…" He whispered in relief, feeling a faint, slow thumping against his fingertips.

"Will he be okay?" Zero asked worriedly, the group standing at a slight distance around Ryo and Gingka, while Madoka took deep breaths to calm down, stretching her weary fingers.

"I hope so…" Ryo whispered, holding Gingka in a protective manner. The redhead merely laid limply, deathly pale, his ribcage shaking slightly as it moved in and out ever so slightly, indicating that he was still breathing, although very weakly.

Over several more minutes of complete silence, Gingka began to strengthen, much to everyone's relief. The redhead groaned slightly, attracting Ryo's attention further.

"Gingka..?" Ryo whispered, further hope igniting in his heart.

"... Dad…?" Relief flooded Ryo's being at the sound of his son's voice as Gingka's eyes opened at last. The older redhead immediately pulled the younger closer, holding him in the protective way that only a father really could.

"... Am I dead now too..?" Gingka whispered in a slightly slurred, breathless tone.

Ryo paused for a moment and looked down at his son in confusion, leaning the young adult back so that Gingka's head was resting just in the crook of Ryo's arm, with Ryo's hand around his shoulder in a firm grasp.

"No… You're not dead… But you came close." Ryo said softly, almost afraid that any sudden movement or loud noises would startle his son back into the state he had been in only minutes ago.

Gingka's eyebrows furrowed weakly in confusion at this. "Then… How are you… Alive?"

It was Ryo's turn now to look confused. "I never died, son. What are you talking about?"

Gingka blinked, twice, looking so utterly lost that Ryo wondered if he was having a bout of amnesia.

"But… You fell…" Gingka muttered wearily, his eyes threatening to fall closed again as he tried to stay conscious, "Into a… helicopter… crashed… Into the ocean…"

Ryo's eyes widened at this. Was that what had been going on? But even that should not have caused what had just happened, the panic that had very nearly taken Gingka's life. The older redhead hugged his son tightly and stroked his hair gently, his hands trembling as he looked up at the others standing around and staring at him and Gingka in a surprised silence.

"What happened, Gingka?" Ryo asked gently, anxious to know what other damage had been done.

"... The city.. Gone… M-Madoka dead… All my fault…" Gingka whispered, beginning to break down crying, his breathing beginning to come out in short gasps.

"Shh… Shh…" Ryo muttered, rubbing Gingka's back. "You have to calm down, son… You're very weak… Calm… None of it happened… Shh…"

"But…" Gingka panted and whimpered slightly, shuddering. "I failed… Wasn't… Strong enough…"

"Gingka, you don't have to worry about that."

The younger redhead turned his head slightly at the sound of a voice that wasn't his father's. Zero came and sat down, hesitantly grabbing the redhead's hand and gripping it tightly in an attempt to help calm him.

"You didn't have to be strong this time. You didn't even know what you were doing. That's why we're here." The Ifrit blader said, blue eyes shining in worry. "You didn't have to save us."

"But… You were captured… Remember..?" Gingka muttered, his eyes only half-opened and barely able to focus.

Zero shook his head. "No. None of us were. You were in some sort of weird thing that let Ziggurat control what you were seeing, everything you felt. You were the one who was captured. And we rescued you."

Gingka froze, eyes widening slightly. For a moment, Ryo and Zero nearly panicked as the redhead stopped breathing before slowly letting out a shaking breath in horror.

"Stop fighting… That's why… The Arrangement system…" Gingka muttered in realization.

Zero blinked and tilted his head.

"You were all telling me to stop fighting... I heard you." Gingka whispered.

"Don't worry about it." Ryo said, two fingers pressed against Gingka's neck to monitor his pulse.

"Then… Madoka's not…?" Gingka trailed off, eyes flashing dimly around.

"Madoka was the one who got you out using her hacking skills." Zero said, scooting over and releasing Gingka's hand, allowing another, gentler hand to slide into Gingka's in its place.

"Madoka…" Gingka breathed, tears spilling.

"Shh… I'm okay, Gingka." The brunette said softly, putting a gentle hand on Gingka's cheek and swiping some of the tears away with an expert motion of her thumb.

Gingka sighed shakily and closed his eyes, a faint smile of relief crossing his lips as he shifted slightly, pressing his cheek further into Madoka's hand. He tried to tug her closer, and she scooted over and hugged him gently.

"We should get out of here." Tsubasa said.

"... We have a lot to explain, don't we?" Benkei said.

"We'll explain once we're all out and to safety. And once Gingka's been taken to a doctor and stabilized." Ryo said, standing and lifting Gingka carefully.

"I can probably walk…" Gingka muttered in protest, hating the one remaining feeling of being weak but secretly liking to be carried as if he were a child again.

"Not when you were dying two minutes ago." Ryo said firmly. "You aren't going to put any strain on yourself."

"Okay…" Gingka muttered, leaning his head against his father's shoulder and breathing in deeply, trying to use all of his senses to reassure himself that his father was indeed alive. As he was carried out and to safety, Gingka thought about what he had been told, adding it together to what he had experienced in what had apparently actually been nothing more than a nightmare.

The question was, when precisely had that nightmare started? Gingka assumed that it must have been when Ziggurat had separated him by his friends. He did remember beginning an assault on Hades City and then being separated by high metal walls before falling down a hole in the ground.

"Are you alright, Gingka?"

Gingka's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Madoka. The redhead looked over slightly and smiled at her, nodding faintly.

"Thanks to you, apparently…" He muttered.

She looked sheepish. "It took me a while… And it took everyone to get to you. You gave us a really hard time there."

Gingka raised an eyebrow. "I did…?"

"I gotta say, Ziggurat sure did plan this out well. But he underestimated us!" Zero said, punching the air.

"What… Happened?" Gingka asked slowly, although he had a hunch.

"Well… If you had stopped fighting, then we'd have gotten you out a lot quicker." Maru piped up from where she was walking next to Madoka.

Gingka raised an eyebrow and glanced around him at each of his comrades for answers.

"We had to defeat you to save you." Ryo said softly. "Because of how Ziggurat's plan worked, you were not only powering Spiral Force, you were defending yourself from us, under the guise of defending us from Ziggurat, as he said. That was what he told us. He told us that you were in a virtual world trying to save us, and that by trying to save us, you were preventing the real us from saving you."

Gingka's eyes widened at this. "That's… Why you were telling me to stop fighting…" He whispered.

Ryo held his son tighter. "Don't worry about it, Gingka… It's all over now." He and the others glanced around at each other, the memory of what had just happened still startlingly fresh on their minds. But now, Gingka seemed to be alright, although still weakened from the long battle.

"Let's go home." Tsubasa said. The others nodded. Gingka let out a slight mutter of wearied agreement.

"You rest, Gingka. We'll do the rest from here." Ryo said.

Gingka nodded faintly and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking slightly back over Ryo's shoulder at Madoka. The brunette smiled gently at him, weariness in her eyes as she walked just a few steps behind Ryo.

"Thank you… All of you…" Gingka whispered faintly, closing his eyes slowly and smiling in relief as he was carried to safety by the very strength that always got him out of a tough spot. However, this time, he was not the hero. Gingka himself had not used the power gained from his friends to defeat the bay guys and save the day. Instead, they had used their own power, gained from battling him and each other, and they had saved him.

Gingka decided that he did not mind not being the hero. As long as he had his friends, he did not have to be. He knew that now. However, when he could be the hero, he would do so, but he would never try to leave his friends behind.

Gingka sighed shakily as he put his arms loosely around Ryo's neck, causing the older to smile faintly at him. Soon enough, they had reached the helicopter that had brought them there hours before, and they were on their way back home.

* * *

 **Aaaand... Main plot twist done! So yes, I just dragged you all through twelve chapters of feels and suspense and plot twists and character deaths only to tell you just now that none of it actually happened! -cue maniacal cackling- A few people guessed it beforehand, so good job to those of you who did, and to the rest of you... Better luck next time I guess? Virtual cookies for all! Oh, and one more thing... I believe I have a teaser to give you. So here you go! You can expect this story... Well probably next week. I may double update this week but if I can't then I'll double update next week. So have this long poem-thing, and any of you who have read a lot of my work should be able to immediately pick out what this means. ;)**

In the center of battle, at the darkest of night,

Sometimes only a glimmer, sometimes a flash of light,

A nebulous shadow, it strikes at the core,

You may prepare your weapons, but futile is war.

A flash of the Eye, and all may be lost;

You can fire your weapons, but what is the cost?

Spiraling inward,

Pressing onward,

Looking upward;

Some try to plead,

What others don't need;

Against laser fire,

To stop raising ire.

Command!

To make a stand,

The guiding hand;

Raising the cry,

"Beware of the Eye!"

The storm and the flight

In the dead of the night

To join into the fight

The battle for what is right

The enemies forlorn,

Their faces forewarn

Each trying to warn

What is all this firepower for?

Shall we let blaze the fires of war?

Look, far!

Beside that star!

It glimmers, the black ship,

Which many a battle has made tip

In the favor of her commander,

Who, lacking malice or anger,

With a single command

Can make every weapon stand

And fire;

Should he so desire.

A glowing blue flash,

It takes only a dash-

Before echoes the cry,

For no matter what they try,

For all that is needed is the sight of the form;

For them to beware the Eye of the Storm.

 **Welp, that's all for now. You may either puzzle your brain over the above lines or you can get excited for what they mean. Galaxy out!**


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue! Yay! This story is now finished! Enjoy!**

* * *

It did not take much time for Ryo and the others to get Gingka out of the Spiral Force and to safety. Once the group was safely away from the structure, the Japanese army destroyed it, causing all of the power to shoot back into Pegasus.

"... That feels much better." Was all that Gingka had said before drifting off into a state of unconsciousness that lasted several hours, allowing Ryo and the others to get him to the hospital without any protest.

"That was too close for comfort." Madoka sighed as she sat next to Gingka's hospital bed, stroking the redhead's hand gently as she watched him sleep.

"I'm surprised they said they should only have to keep him overnight, and then we can take him to the B-Pit and just let him rest and recover there, as long as there are no complications." Tsubasa said.

Ryo nodded silently, stroking Gingka's head with one hand while his other hand held Gingka's other.

"Considering that we had everything but Gingka's help, I think we did pretty good." Zero spoke up from his seat across the room.

"He's always saved us, and now we've saved him… Twice, actually." Maru said.

"Once from DNA, once from Spiral Force." Shinobu nodded.

Benkei, Ryo, Madoka, and Tsubasa shared a glance, a slight worried look passing between them.

"I sure hope this pattern doesn't continue to follow you-know-what." Ryo said.

The others nodded.

"If it does, we're in trouble. Big trouble. We'd need you-know-who." Tsubasa said.

"Bu-bu-bull! Not that I want 'that' to happen, but it'd be nice to see them all again! Especially Kyoya!" Benkei said.

The others just looked confused.

Madoka shuddered. "Considering how this almost ended… I don't think I want the trend to continue. If it did, we might actually lose him." She looked back to Gingka as the room became more solemn.

"What are you all talking about…?" Zero said hesitantly.

"Nemesis." Ryo said, scowling. "If the trend of bad guys returning and capturing Gingka continues, then Nemesis could be next."

The younger bladers looked frightened. "But… Even Gingka and the other Legendary Bladers could barely stop Nemesis! And in the end, it was only Gingka!"

"Through the bonds created with bladers around the world, yes." Ryo said solemnly. "If this trend is going to continue, we had better be ready."

"Okay, why are we all being such downers? It's not like that guy is going to revive… Right?" Ren asked.

"Ren's got a point." Kite said. "But so does Mr. Hagane."

"So what if that guy comes back?!" Zero said. "We hope he doesn't, but if he does, we'll be ready for him!"

"That's the spirit…" A soft voice broke into the conversation.

"Oh, you're awake." Tsubasa said as all eyes turned to Gingka.

The redhead chuckled lightly, his voice slightly muffled by the oxygen mask over his face.

"Yeah. I'm awake."

"Next time we just won't let you get captured." Madoka said firmly.

"I am getting tired of that… But at least I know that there'll be someone who will come get me." Gingka said, looking around at his friends with a weary but confident smile.

"We just don't want them to kill you before we can get there. That almost happened."

Gingka shrugged. "Occupational hazard, annoyingly enough."

"... If you weren't so weak I would slap you for saying that…" Madoka growled.

Gingka looked genuinely nervous at this. Madoka started crying and the look of fear in Gingka's eyes soon faded to one of concern.

"Come here…" He whispered softly, tugging at her hand. Madoka climbed up and buried her face in Gingka's hospital gown, crying softly. Gingka wrapped one arm around her waist securely.

Words could not quite describe how relieved Gingka had been to find out that his father and Madoka were still alive, that everything had been nothing more than a nightmare crafted by Ziggurat to trick him into powering the Spiral Force.

"I didn't kill her…" He thought to himself, a relieved smile falling across his lips as he brought his other hand up and placed it on the back of Madoka's head, simply holding her. Whether it was more for his own comfort or hers, he did not know and honestly, he did not care. All that mattered to him at the moment was that everything was alright.

"Just get better and fight with us next time, okay..?" Madoka whispered.

Gingka chuckled deeply. "Of course, milady."

Madoka raised her head and looked confusedly at him. "'Milady'?"

"... What? I thought girls liked being treated like royalty." Gingka said slowly.

"... We do…?" Madoka said just as slowly, a bit bewildered.

Gingka released one of his trademark cheesy grins. "Well then." He tried to sit up but Madoka held him down.

"Nice try, you big idiot. You still have to rest."

Gingka crossed his arms and whined childishly. "Hey, hey, I was just trapped by an evil mastermind and tricked into thinking I killed you, can't you cut me some slack here?"

Madoka rolled her eyes. "That's exactly why you need to rest." She said, bending down and kissing his forehead. "Plus, you owe me one."

Gingka huffed. "After all the times I saved you, you think that one time of you saving me is gonna repay it?"

"Well I'm not repaying you by letting you get up because that could cause your vitals to fail right now." Madoka said firmly.

Gingka paused, realizing he had no comebacks for that… Save one, that was.

"Fiine… I was just gonna get something from my inner jacket pocket anyway." He muttered in resignation.

"I'll get it for you." Madoka sighed. "But you lie still." She got up and walked over to where Gingka's jacket was hanging on a chair. "Which jacket pocket?"

"Inside, just below the collar on the right." Gingka said, smirking triumphantly with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that caused Ryo and the others to raise their eyebrows at him.

Madoka calmly reached in and pulled out a small red box, then paused and looked at Gingka confusedly.

"Need I even explain?" Gingka said sheepishly. Everyone else just stared at him in surprise. Madoka downright glared at the redhead, who looked quite frightened at the look in her eyes.

"... I know I'm an idiot…" The redhead mumbled.

"Yes. Yes you are." Madoka said, stepping over with the box in her hand.

"But can I be your idiot?" Gingka asked, looking up at her with a sheepish grin that Madoka knew she could not resist. She never had been able to.

The brunette held up the ring box. "Well I wasn't ever planning on saying no."

Gingka paused for a moment, turning this statement over in his mind and attempting to decipher the meaning. Madoka sweatdropped.

"Yes, you idiot. My answer is yes." She said, hugging him tightly.

"... Oh." Gingka said, hugging her back and slipping the box from her hand as he did so.

"... That was smooth." Tsubasa whispered.

"... I don't believe it… My son is better at this than I was." Ryo said, just staring in shock.

"Yet still an idiot." Shinobu pointed out.

"I think that's why it was so smooth…" Zero said.

"See if you'd let me up I coulda done it properly…" Gingka muttered.

"Uh-huh. And what would you have done then if you had fainted before you ever got to your knee?" Madoka asked as she pulled out of the hug and put her hands on her hips.

"... Improvised." Gingka muttered.

"While unconscious?"

"Once I woke up."

"Sure. Sure you would have. I wouldn't have let you up anyway."

Gingka pouted. "I was only trying to do it the right way."

"I don't care about that, Gingka." Madoka said, putting a hand on his cheek and caressing his face gently. "I'm just glad that you're okay."

"Well you saved me." Gingka said. "M'just glad it was only a dream…"

"You need to rest." Madoka said.

"Not before I put this on you." Gingka said, opening the box and holding it up.

"Okay. But then you're going back to sleep." Madoka said, holding out her hand and letting Gingka slip a silver ring with a sparkling pink jewel onto her hand before she tucked the blankets around him snugly and sat back down in her chair next to him, stroking his forehead until he eventually drifted off to sleep, a small, triumphant smirk on his face.

"Always the idiot…" Madoka whispered softly with a smile on her face as she watched her now-fiance sleep.

"I taught him well." Ryo chuckled.

"That you did." Tsubasa teased. "Mr. 'Immortal Phoenix.'"

Ryo smirked.

"Like father like son." Benkei laughed. "In some ways, at least."

"Which is sometimes a bad thing." Madoka teased, her eyes sparkling playfully as she looked at the others.

Ryo crossed his arms and pouted, looking very much like his son as he did so. Zero and the others laughed at him.

Slowly but surely over the next few weeks, Gingka regained his strength. It was only when he came up behind Madoka one morning and swept her off her feet that she finally declared that he could leave the B-Pit and return to a more normal life. It was one evening a few days after this that Zero found the redhead seated atop a warehouse near the docks, staring out over the water with a solemn look on his face.

"Gingka?"

The redhead looked down. "Zero? What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I was looking for you. What are you doing all the way out here?" Zero replied.

"Just reassuring myself that it really was a dream." Gingka said, helping the younger blader up atop the roof.

"That real?"

"Yeah. In that alternate reality, the Spiral Force was right over there." Gingka said, pointing out over the water. "I was trying to destroy it, so I punched a hole through it before creating a vacuum barrier using Storm Bringer. It imploded and then exploded, creating the tsunami that I thought was causing my death."

"I wonder how that almost actually caused you to die." Zero mused. "Maybe because your brain was telling you that you were, and so then you were?"

"I wouldn't underestimate the power of the brain." Gingka thought. "There are reasons psychological warfare works so well."

"Well, either way, you didn't die and it was all only a dream." Zero said cheerfully, not liking the solemn direction that the conversation was beginning to take.

Gingka smiled at this. "Yeah. It was. Makes me wonder though…" He stood and trailed off, reaching for his launcher.

Zero raised an eyebrow and stood as well, curious as to what was about to happen.

"Pegasus knew it was a dream. I ignored everyone. I have to wonder if this too is a dream." Gingka said. "Only one way to find out." He raised his launcher with the usual grace and lightning speed that his skill had attained over the years, hooking Pegasus onto it with a slight dramatic flair.

"And that is?" Zero asked curiously.

"Watch and see." Gingka responded simply. "Let it rip!" He launched Pegasus in an instant, the silver and blue bey flying effortlessly from the launcher. Gingka then closed his eyes, allowing his arms to slacken at his sides as he focused, his face becoming expressionless.

Zero just watched, wondering what was going on. He gasped suddenly as a blue glow and what seemed like some sort of starry portal appeared. Moments later, Pegasus itself rose out of the portal, spreading its wings and whinnying loudly.

"It's free." Gingka said, opening his eyes and smiling. "When I last saw Pegasus, it was chained down and unable to fly because of Spiral Force. But now…" He threw out a hand. "Fly high, Pegasus!"

The winged horse whinnied in response and launched into the air in an instant, the bey it represented following just underneath it. Gingka laughed triumphantly as his bey created a shockwave, soaring until it was out of sight.

And so it begins. A headache, a kidnapping, a glass prison; the scream of a friend, when life comes to an end. In the reality of a nightmare, hope for victory is snatched in an instant. What is happening? Unleashed, more than it seems, is the reality within a dream.

* * *

 **OwO I have finished it! And if you didn't notice, that last paragraph was a combination of every chapter title in this story. As soon as I can get it up, I shall see you with Eye of the Storm 2! For anyone who has not, you should go read the first Eye of the Storm so that you know what happened previously! Until then, Galaxy out!**


End file.
